Physical landscapes

• Constructive waves

  A low wave that deposits material after it breaks, building up the beach. Swash is stronger than backwash.
• Destructive waves

  large waves that carry sand and other material away in the backwash
• What is the fetch of a wave?

  fetch, which is the distance over water that the wind blows/ the distance a wave travels
• Differences between constructive and destructive waves

  Constructive are small whereas destructive are large

  Constructive gain beach sediment whereas destructive lose it

  Constructive have a strong swash whereas destructive have a weak swash
• what is the coast

  Where the land meets the sea
• Weathering

  The breaking down of rocks and other materials on the Earth's surface through the weather
• mechanical weathering

  the physical disintegration of rock, resulting in smaller fragments
• chemical weathering

  caused by chemical changes, rainwater which is slightly acidic slowly dissolves certain rocks
• biological weathering


  any weathering that's caused by the activities of living organisms.
• Freeze-thaw

  When the repeated action of freezing and thawing widens the cracks and causes the rock to breakup
• salt weathering

  a weathering process where salt crystals grow and expand in the cracks and holes of rock, creating pressure which eventually causes fragments of rock to break away
• Carbonation weathering

  Rainwater absorbs CO2 from the air and becomes slightly acidic. Contact with alkaline rocks such as chalk and limestone produces a chemical reaction causing the rocks to slowly dissolve.
• mass movement


  Any one of several processes by which gravity moves sediment downhill.
• what are the 4 types of mass movement

  Rockfall, landslide, mudflow, rotational slip/slump
• Rockfall

  when loose rocks fall down a steep slope
• landslide

  Large blocks of rock slide downhill.
• Mudflow

  Saturated soil and weak rock flows down a slope
• Rotational slip

  Slump of saturated soil down a curved surface
• physical weathering

  the disintegration of rock into smaller pieces without any chemical change in the rock
• Hydraulic action

  Trapped air is forced into holes and cracks in the rocks eventually breaking it apart
• Abrasion

  The grinding away of rock by other rock particles carried in water, ice, or wind. Sandpapering effect
• Corrasion

  The effect of rocks being flung at the cliff by powerful waves
• Attrition

  rocks collide and begin to become smaller
• Solution

  Dissolving of soluble chemicals
• traction

  Large boulders and rocks are rolled along the river bed
• Saltation

  Small pebbles and stones are bounced along the river bed
• Suspension

  Particles held/carried
• Stack/stump formation

  1) A fault/crack begins to form in the cliff

  2) It widens by hydraulic action and abrasion into a cave.

  3) the cave expands till it makes an arch

  4) Arch continues to erode till it collapses

  5) This leaves a stack

  6) Stack is eroded till it collapses into a stump
• wave-cut platform

  A rocky, level shelf at or around sea level representing the base of old, retreated cliffs.
• Wave cut notch formation

  1) Waves cause most erosion at foot of a cliff

  2) This forms a wave-cut notch, which is enlarged as erosion continues

  3) The rock above the notch becomes unstable and eventually collapses

  4) the collapsed material is washed away and a new wave-cut notch starts to form

  5) Repeated collapsing results in the cliff retreating.

  6) A wave cut platform is the platform left behind as the cliff retreats
• What is long shore drift?

  1) Waves follow the direction of the prevailing wind.

  2) They usually hit the coast at an oblique angle.

  3) The swash carries material up the beach, in the same direction as the waves.

  4) The backwash then carries material down the beach at right angles, back towards the sea.

  5) Over time, material zigzags along the coast.
• Sand dune formation

  1. A large amount of loose sand in an area with little vegetation

  2. A wind or breeze to transport the grains of sand

  3. An obstacle that causes the sand to lose momentum and settle.
• Marram grass adaptations

  Inner side has hair- help leaf to close and trap water

  Outer edge is smooth and thick- resists abrasion from wind blown sand

  Woody tissue- tough and strong- gives plants stability.
• drainage basin

  the area from which a single stream or river and its tributaries drains all of the water
• source

  The start of a river
• Mouth

  end of a stream; point at which a stream enters a lake, sea, or ocean
• tributaries

  small river or stream that flows in to a larger river or stream; a branch of the river
• river chanel

  main part of a river, holds the most water
• confluence

  where a tributary joins a larger river
• Water shed

  the edge of a river basin