Geography paper 1

• Abrasion


  A form of erosion where loose material 'sandpapers' 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.
• Beach Morphology


  The surface shape of the beach.
• 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 erosion when breaking waves fling material (rocks, sediment, shells. etc) at a cliff face, physically knocking off material.
• Corrosion


  The acid in seawater and some types of seaweed attacks 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Nearshore


  The area before the shore where the wave steepness 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.
• Saltation


  Smaller sediment bounces along the sea bed, being pushed by currents.The sediment is 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 programme)


  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 and 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.
• Till


  Deposits of angular rock fragments in a finer medium.
• Wave Quarrying


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