2B.1a

• fetch: the distance that the wind blows over the water before it reaches the shore
• tides: wave motion controlled by the gravitational pull of the moon
• waves: rhythmic movement of water caused by the wind
• swash: the forward movement of water up a beach after a wave breaks, carrying sediment
• backwash: the backward movement of water away from a beach
• constructive waves: low energy waves where the swash is stronger than the backwash - deposits sediment on the beach
• destructive waves: high energy waves where the backwash is stronger than the swash - erodes the beach
• discordant coastline: bands of alternating soft and hard rock lie perpendicular to the coast
• concordant coastlines: bands of alternating soft and hard rock lie parallel to the coast
• what is the coastal zone?

  the boundary where land and sea meet, and where both marine and terrestrial processes operate and interact
• the littoral zone: the wider coastal zone including coastal land areas and shallow parts of the sea just offshore
• associated features of the coastal land:

  • often populated and urbanised
  • cliffs or dunes
• backshore: the area above the high tide mark, affected by wave action only during major storm events

  • berms (single ridges), pebbles, beach
  • high tide mark
• foreshore: the area between the high tide and low tide mark, wave processes occur here

  • swash zone
  • runnels and ridges
  • low tide mark
• nearshore: the area of shallow water beyond the low tide mark, within which friction between the seabed and waves distorts the wave sufficiently to cause it to break (breaker zone) There may be a breakpoint bar between the offshore and nearshore zone

  • breaker zone
  • surf zone
  • longshore bars
• offshore zone: the area of deeper water beyond the point at which waves begin to break. friction between the waves and the sea bed may cause some distortion of the wave shape

  • offshore rock
  • braker-water (man-made structures to manage the coast)
• what natural and human processes would change within the littoral zone?

  natural - erosion + deposition (wave action erodes coastlines while depositing sediment in other areas) + sea level changes which effects shorelines and ecosystems

  human - urbanisation + development e.g. construction or buildings human - pollution from fishing, land use changes