physical landscapes - coasts/rivers

• What is abrasion in coastal processes?

  The wearing away of cliffs by sediment
• How does a bay bar form?

  By a spit growing across a bay
• What is beach reprofiling?

  Changing the profile or shape of the beach
• What causes chemical weathering?

  A chemical change within the rock
• What action is taken in dune regeneration?

  Re-planting marram grass to stabilize dunes
• What is erosion?

  The wearing away and removal of material
• What is the purpose of a groyne?

  To stop longshore drift of sand and shingle
• How do headlands and bays form?

  Headlands are made of erosion-resistant rock
• What is hard engineering in coastal management?

  Use of concrete and large artificial structures
• What is hydraulic power?

  Breaking waves compress air in cliff cracks
• What is longshore drift?

  The zigzag movement of sediment along a shore
• What is managed retreat in coastal management?

  Allowing natural erosion and deposition processes
• What is mass movement?

  Downhill movement of weathered material
• What is mechanical weathering?

  Physical disintegration of rock without chemical change
• What is rock armour?

  Large boulders used for coastal defences
• What is the purpose of a sea wall?

  To prevent erosion by reflecting wave energy
• What is slumping in coastal processes?

  Rapid mass movement of a cliff segment
• What is soft engineering?

  Managing erosion by working with natural processes
• What is a spit?

  A finger of sediment extending from the shore
• What is a wave cut platform?

  A rocky shelf at sea level from eroded cliffs
• What is attrition in river processes?

  Rocks smashing together to form smaller particles
• What is a gorge?

  A narrow, steep-sided valley formed by erosion
• What are embankments?

  Raised banks constructed along a river
• What is an estuary?

  The tidal mouth of a river meeting the sea
• What is a flood plain?

  The flat area on either side of a river
• What is hydraulic action in river processes?

  Force of river water weakening the banks
• What are interlocking spurs?

  Ridges projecting out on alternate sides of a valley
• What are levees?

  Embankments of sediment along river banks
• What is a meander?

  A pronounced bend in a river
• What is an ox-bow lake?

  An arc-shaped lake cut off from a river
• What is suspension in river processes?

  Fine solid material held in moving water
• What is traction in river processes?

  The rolling of boulders along the river bed
• What is a waterfall?

  A sudden descent of a river over a slope
• How is a waterfall formed?

  When a river meets softer rock after harder rock