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Coastal Processes - Spring

The document discusses coastal landforms and processes. It explains how waves, erosion and deposition shape the coastline and form features like cliffs, beaches and spits. Sub-aerial erosion, hydraulic action and longshore drift play important roles in changing the coast over time.

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Chandreyee Chakraborty
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39 views36 pages

Coastal Processes - Spring

The document discusses coastal landforms and processes. It explains how waves, erosion and deposition shape the coastline and form features like cliffs, beaches and spits. Sub-aerial erosion, hydraulic action and longshore drift play important roles in changing the coast over time.

Uploaded by

Chandreyee Chakraborty
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Coastal Processes

and Landforms
Learning objectives

How do waves operate?


What are sub-aerial processes and why are they
important?
What processes of erosion operate at the coast?
What landforms are created by erosion?
What processes of transport operate at the coast?
What landforms are created by deposition?
Why do waves break?
Waves are the result of the wind blowing over the sea. As they approach land
they break.

The bottom of the wave touches the sand and slows down due to increased
friction. The top of the wave becomes higher and steeper until it topples over.
Swash and backwash

Backwash

Swash

Note: Backwash is always at right angles to the beach


Why are waves generally larger in the south west?

Wave energy depends on the fetch, the strength of the wind and the length of time
over which the wind has blown.

fetch = the distance over


which the wind has blown

Look at an atlas or a wall map to find out the largest fetch around the British Isles.
Types of waves
How do waves operate?
What are sub-aerial processes and why are they
Learning ojetives

important?
What processes of erosion operate at the coast?
What landforms are created by erosion?
What processes of transport operate at the coast?
What landforms are created by deposition?
What are sub-aerial processes?
The coast is the narrow zone between the
land and the sea.
It is worth remembering that the
landscape will be influenced by processes
on the land as well as the sea.
Sub-aerial processes include weathering
and mass movement. These processes
operate on the cliff face to weaken it and
provide material for coastal erosion.
Impact of sub-aerial processes
Learning objectives

How do waves operate?


What are sub-aerial processes and why are they
important?
What processes of erosion operate at the coast?
What landforms are created by erosion?
What processes of transport operate at the coast?
What landforms are created by deposition?
Processes of erosion
Processes of erosion
Attrition
Materials carried by the waves bump into each other and so are smoothed and
broken down into smaller particles.
Hydraulic action
This process involves the force of water against the coast. The waves enter
cracks (faults) in the coastline and compress the air within the crack. When the
wave retreats, the air in the crack expands quickly, causing a minor explosion.
This process is repeated continuously.
Corrosion
This is the chemical action of sea water. The acids in the salt water slowly
dissolve rocks on the coast. Limestone and chalk are particularly prone to this
process.
Abrasion/Corrasion
This is the process by which the coast is worn down by material carried by the
waves. Waves throw these particles against the rock, sometimes at high
velocity.
Do you know your coastal processes?
Learning objectives

How do waves operate?


What are sub-aerial processes and why are they
important?
What processes of erosion operate at the coast?
What landforms are created by erosion?
What processes of transport operate at the coast?
What landforms are created by deposition?
Landforms of coastal erosion

1) Headlands and Bays


2) Cliffs and Wave Cut Platforms
3) Caves, Arches, Stacks and Stumps
Headlands and bays
How are cliffs and wave-cut platforms formed?
Wave-cut platform

The waves attack the base of the cliff through the processes of
abrasion, corrosion, hydraulic action and attrition.
Over time the cliff will be undercut and a wave-cut notch is
formed.
Eventually the cliff becomes unstable and collapses. Further
cliff retreat will form a wave-cut platform.
How are caves, arches, stacks and stumps formed?
Caves, arches, stacks and stumps
The formation of caves, arches, stacks and stumps
If these photos were taken of one headland over time, which of
these landforms would be the first to be formed?
Learning objectives

How do waves operate?


What are sub-aerial processes and why are they
important?
What processes of erosion operate at the coast?
What landforms are created by erosion?
What processes of transport operate at the coast?
What landforms are created by deposition?
How is sediment transported along the coast?
Longshore drift
Direction of movement

Backwash is always at
right angles to the beach

swash

Backwash

This movement of sediment along the coastline is called


longshore drift.
Learning objectives

How do waves operate?


What are sub-aerial processes and why are they
important?
What processes of erosion operate at the coast?
What landforms are created by erosion?
What processes of transport operate at the coast?
What landforms are created by deposition?
Landforms of coastal deposition

1) Beaches
2) Spits
3) Tombolos and Bars
How are beaches formed?

Beaches form in sheltered environments, such as bays. When the swash is stronger
than the backwash, deposition occurs.
Sometimes sand from offshore bars can be blown onto the shore by strong winds.
In such cases dunes may form – such as at Studland on the Dorset Coast.
How are spits formed?
How are spits formed?
How are spits formed?
Pagham, West Sussex
Sketch and annotate this aerial photograph using the words below.
What is a tombolo?
If a spit joins the mainland to an island it is called a tombolo.

At Chesil Beach in Dorset, the mainland


is joined to the Isle of Portland.
What is a bar?
If a spit joins one part of the mainland to another it is called a bar.

For example, there is a bar at Orford Ness in Suffolk.


Erosion or deposition?
Key Ideas
Waves are the result of the wind blowing over the sea. They break as they approach land.
Swash and backwash describe the movement of a wave on the beach. Fetch is the distance
that the wind has travelled.
Sub-aerial processes such as weathering and mass movement occur on the cliff face.
Coastal processes of erosion include hydraulic action, attrition, corrosion and solution.
Landforms created by erosion include headlands and bays, caves, arches, stacks and stumps.
Longshore drift is a method of coastal transport.
Landforms created by deposition include beaches, spits, tombolos and bars.

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