coasts

• Abrasion


  A form of erosion where loose material erodes the walls and floors of the river, cliff or glacier. Also known as attrition.
• Backshore


  The upper beach closest to the land, including any cliffs or sand dunes
• Bar


  A section of sand caused by deposition. They join two sides of a bay together, creating a lagoon behind the bar.
• Beach Morphology


  The surface shape of the beach
• Beach Nourishment


  The addition of sand and sediment to an eroding beach by humans. The new material will be eroded by the sea which saves the cliffs or sand dunes from erosion and recession.
• 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.
• Corrasion


  A form of mechanical erosion were material and sediment in the sea is flung at the cliff-face as waves break against it, this breaks up the rocks making up the cliff.
• Corrosion


  The weak acid in seawater and some types of seaweed react with particular rock minerals, causing erosion and weakening.
• Dalmatian Coast


  A concordant coastline with several river valleys running perpendicular to the coast. They become flooded to produce parallel long islands and long inlets
• DEFRA's 1:1 Cost-Benefit Analysis

  The evaluation of a coastal town's economic value compared to the cost of the management required.
• Discordant Coast


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


  A system where its inputs and outputs are in balance. Short term changes can affect this balance, negative feedback loops help to take the system back to dynamic equilibrium.
• Emergent Coast


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


  The point at where the river meets an ocean, often muddy or silty. Sometimes estuaries become exposed at low tide or hazardous to traverse in a boat due to sandbanks.
• Eustatic


  Global changes to sea levels.
• Fetch


  The length of water over which the wind has travelled.
• Fjord


  Long narrow inlet of sea water which is between steep mountains. They are created when sea levels rise relative to the land, flooding coastal glacial valleys.
• Foreshore


  The lower part of the beach covered twice a day at high tide (the part of the beach that receives the most regular wave action).
• 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 and 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)
• Grading


  The layering of sediments based on their size
• Groyne


  A form of hard-engineering. Low-lying concrete or wooden walls, constructed perpendicular to the seafront and run out to sea. They encourage the trapping of sediment to reduce erosion caused by longshore drift or by winds.
• Hard Management


  The use of concrete structures to reduce or halt the recession of a coastline. Includes: Groynes, Sea Walls, Rock Armour.
• High-energy coasts


  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.
• Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)


  Large sections of coastline (often sediment cells) are managed with one integrated strategy and management occurs between different political boundaries. It usually follows a holistic approach and takes into consideration different players.
• Impermeable


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


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


  A section of the coast, within which involves much sediment movement. A littoral zone 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. Deposition usually takes place leading to beach accretion.
• Mass Movement


  Where there is a large downhill movement of material usually from a cliff-face. Here, the rock is often weak due to erosion and the movement is caused by gravity.
• Nearshore


  The area before the shore where the wave steepens and breaks before they reach the shore and then reform before breaking on the beach. It extends from the low-tide zone and then out to sea.
• 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.
• Rock Armour


  Large rocks or concrete blocks, used as barricades to reduce marine erosion at the base of cliffs.
• Saltation


  A form of transportation where smaller sediment bounces along the sea bed pushed by currents. This sediment is too heavy to be picked up by the flow of the water.