Which type of wave has a strong swash and a weak backwash?
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Constructive waves

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Which type of wave has a strong swash and a weak backwash?
What 3 factors affect the size of waves?
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Fetch, wind speed and wind duration.

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What 3 factors affect the size of waves?
Identify the two types of wave.
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Constructive and destructive waves.

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Identify the two types of wave.
What word describes the movement of a wave up a beach?
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Swash

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What word describes the movement of a wave up a beach?
What is the fetch of a wave?
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The distance a wave has travelled.

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What is the fetch of a wave?

Give an outline of what corrasion involves.
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Corrasion is when destructive waves pick up beach material (e.g. pebbles) and hurl them at the base of a cliff. Over time this can loosen cliff material forming a wave-cut notch.

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Give an outline of what corrasion involves.
What is corrosion/solution?
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Corrosion/solution is when certain types of cliff erode as a result of weak acids in the sea.

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What is corrosion/solution?
What is coastal erosion?
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Coastal erosion is the wearing away of the land by the sea.

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What is coastal erosion?
What is coastal erosion?
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The wearing away of land by the sea.

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What is coastal erosion?
Identify the main processes of coastal erosion.
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Corrasion, abrasion, hydraulic action, attrition and corrosion/solution.

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Identify the main processes of coastal erosion.
What is salt weathering?
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Salt weathering is when salt spray from the sea gets into a crack in a rock. It may evaporate and crystallise, putting pressure on the surrounding rock and weakening the structure.

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What is salt weathering?
What is mechanical weathering?
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Mechanical weathering is the breakdown of rock without changing its chemical structure (composition).

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What is mechanical weathering?
What is chemical weathering?
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Chemical weathering is the breakdown of rock through changing its chemical composition.

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What is chemical weathering?
What is weathering?
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Weathering is the breakdown of rock in situ by the action of rainwater, extremes of temperature, and biological activity.

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What is weathering?
Describe the processes of freeze-thaw weathering.
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Freeze-thaw weathering occurs when rocks are porous (contain holes) or permeable (allow water to pass through). Water enters the rock and freezes. The ice expands by around 9%. This causes pressure on the rock until it cracks. Repeated freeze-thaw can cause the rock to break up.

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Describe the processes of freeze-thaw weathering.
Describe how longshore drift transports material.
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Longshore drift happens when waves approach the beach at an angle. The swash (waves moving up the beach) carries material up and along the beach. The backwash (waves moving back down the beach) carries material back down the beach at right angles. This is the result of gravity. This process slowly moves material along the beach and provides a link between erosion and deposition. The material is transported through suspension, traction, solution and saltation. Longshore drift provides a link between erosion, transportation and deposition.

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Describe how longshore drift transports material.
Give three conditions that lead to coastal deposition happening.
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Any three from:

  • Waves enter an area of shallow water/waves enter a sheltered area, eg a cove or bay
  • There is little wind
  • A river or estuary flows into the sea reducing wave energy
  • There is a good supply of material and the amount of material being transported is greater than the wave energy can transport.

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Give three conditions that lead to coastal deposition happening.
What is the zig-zag movement of material along the shore by wave action called?
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Longshore drift

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What is the zig-zag movement of material along the shore by wave action called?
What is solution?
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Material is dissolved and carried by the water.

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What is solution?
What is coastal transportation?
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The movement of sediment and beach material through wave action.

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What is coastal transportation?