Glossary

• Abrasion


  A form of erosion where loose material ‘sandpapers’ the walls and floors of the river, cliff or glacier.

  • aka attrition.
• What is abrasion aka 


  attrition
• coastal recession


  • The retreat of a coastline due to erosion, sea-level rise or submergence.
• Concordant coast 


  A coastline where bands of alternate geology run parallel to the coast
• Corrosion


  A form of erosion when breaking waves fling material (rocks, sediment, shells. etc) at a cliff face, physically knocking off material.
• Another definition of corrosion


  The acid in seawater and some types of seaweed attacks particular rock minerals, causing erosion and weakening.
• Dalmation coast


  • A concordant coastline with several river valleys running perpendicular to the coast.
  • They become flooded to produce parallel long islands and long inlets.
• Discordant coast


  A coastline where bands of alternate geology run perpendicular to the shore.
• Dynamic Equilibrium


  Where a natural system tries to achieve a balance by making constant changes in response to a constantly changing system.
• Emergent Coast


  A coastline that is advancing relative to the sea level at the time.
• Eustatic


  Global changes to sea levels
• Fetch


  • The distance the wave travels before it reaches the coastline.
  • Distance to the nearest land mass in the direction in which the wave travels.
• Fjord

  Long narrow inlet deeper in the middle section than at the mouth

  • created when sea levels rise relative to the land
  • flooding coastal glacial valleys.
• Freeze Thaw

  • A form of physical sub-aerial weathering where water freezes in the cracks of a rock, expands and enlarges the crack,
  • therefore weakens the rock.
• Geology

  The structure & arrangement of a rock
• Glacial Erosion

  The removal of loose material by glacier ice, involving plucking, abrasion, crushing and basal meltwater.

  • (necessary in the formation of Fjords).
• High-energy Environment


  A coast where wave action is predominantly large destructive waves,

  • causing much erosion.
• Hydraulic Action

  The pressure of compressed air forced into cracks in a rock face will cause the rock to weaken and break apart.
• ICZM


  Integrated coastal zone managment
• Impermeable


  A rock that does not allow rainwater to pass through
• Isostatic


  A change in local coastline or land height relative to sea level.
• Littoral Cell


  A section of the coast, within which involves much sediment movement.

  • A littoral cell is not a closed system.
• Longshore drift


  The transportation of sediment along a beach.

  • Longshore Drift is determined by the direction of the prevailing wind.
• Low-energy Environment


  A coast where wave action is predominantly small constructive waves, causing deposition and leading to beach accretion.
• Mass Movement


  The falling or movement of rock, often due to Gravity.
• Permeable


  A rock that allows rainwater to pass through it
• Plant Succession


  Change to a plant community due to growing conditions adapting (eg. sand dunes and salt marshes).
• Ria


  • Narrow winding inlet which is deepest at the mouth,
  • formed when sea levels rise causing coastal valleys to flood.
• Saltation

  Smaller sediment bounces along the sea bed, being pushed by currents.

  • Sediment too heavy to be picked up by the flow of the water.
• Sediment Cell


  • Sections of the coast bordered by prominent headlands.
  • Within these sections,
  • the movement of sediment is almost contained
  • and the flows of sediment should act in dynamic equilibrium.
• Sediment Budget


  Use data of inputs, outputs, stores and transfers

  to assess the gains and losses of sediment within a sediment cell.
• SMP


  Shoreline management plan ?
• SMP


  Identifies all of the activities, both natural and human which occur within the coastline area of each sediment cell

  • and then recommends a combination of four actions for each stretch of that coastline:
  • Hold the Line
  • Advance the Line
  • Managed Realignment
  • No Active Intervention.
• Subaerial processes


  • The combination of mass movement and weathering
  • that affects the coastal land above sea.
• Submergent coast


  A coast that is sinking relative to the sea level of the time
• Wave Quarrying 


  When air is trapped and compressed against a cliff which causes rock fragments to break off the cliff over time.
• ICZM?


  • Large sections of coastline (often sediment cells)
  • are managed with one integrated strategy
  • and management occurs between different political boundaries