Coastal Systems & Processes (AQA AS Geography): Exam Questions

Currents driven by temperature differences in the ocean, tidal flows driven by gravity and waves generated by wind.

Eustatic changes in sea level, ocean currents driven by variations in temperature and sediment added to a beach by mass movement.

Isostatic changes in sea level, local tidal flows and sediment deposited in estuaries by rivers.

Tidal currents driven by gravity, the movement of sediment by longshore drift and the accumulation of sediment on offshore bars.

Breaking waves trap air as they hit a cliff face, creating pressure and weakening the rock.

Rocks at the coast are weakened and broken down in the presence of air and water, and by the action of animals and plants.

Where water acts as a lubricant between different layers of material in a cliff, gravity causes a downwards rotational movement.

Wind reaching the coast provides enough energy to allow sand particles to be transported and thrown against a cliff face.

The breakdown of rock on an exposed cliff face due to the action of repeated changes in temperature.

The downhill movement of material at the coast under the influence of gravity.

The removal of rock from cliff tops by flowing water as it runs off the land into the sea.

The weakening of rocks at the base of a cliff by repeated pounding by waves at high tide.

Corrasion, hydraulic action, wave quarrying

Abrasion, cavitation, attrition

Mass movement, runoff, sub-aerial weathering

Solution, suspension, traction