Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Coastal Landforms
- Landforms created by erosion
- There are 4 key types of erosion...
- Abrasion
- Waves transport the material
which hits the cliff wearing it away
- Hydraulic Action
- Waves trap air and force it into
cracks in the cliffs making it weaker
- Attrition
- Waves throw rocks around causing them to crash and
wear each other down into smaller rounder pieces
- Corrosion
- Chemicals in the sea dissolve the cliffs
gradually over thousands of years
- changes in landforms can also be a result of wind erosion,
weathering and sub-aerial processes such as mass movement.
- Headlands and Bays
- Headlands are usually made of more
resistant rock types than bays
- If there are different bands of rock along a coastline, the weaker
or softer rock, such as clay, is eroded fastest. This leaves more
resistant rock types, such as granite, sticking out.
- Caves, Arches, Stacks and Stumps
- The formation.....
- 1. Waves cause weaknesses to form
cracks at the base of the headland
- 2. Over time the cracks become
larger to form a cave
- 3. The cave gets bigger and cracks appear
above the cave to the top of the headland
- 4. The arch grows larger and eventually collapses
leaving a stack separated from the mainland
- 5. The stack erodes and becomes a stump
- Cliff erosion and wave-cut platforms
- Stages in cliff retreat....
- 2. After some time a wave-cut notch is formed
- 3. At the same time the wind attacks the
top of the cliffs and weakens them
- 4. The now weakened cliff is left unsupported
due to undercutting and collapses
- 5. When the sea removes the fallen rocks it
can restart the process again
- 6. The cliff starts to retreat backwards
and forms a wave-cut platform
- 1. Strong waves hit the bottom of the
cliffs during storms and high tide