Which coasts of the British Isles are the highest energy, and why?

The west-facing Atlantic coasts of Wales, Cornwall and western Scotland, because they receive the prevailing south-westerly winds across thousands of kilometres of open ocean.

What is a rocky or cliffed coastline?

A coastline where resistant rock rises directly from the sea, giving a steep profile with little permanent sediment store.

Explain why a high energy coast typically has narrow, discontinuous beaches.

Wave energy removes sediment faster than it is supplied, so beach material accumulates only in sheltered pockets such as the heads of bays.

WJEC A-Level Geography 601-8455-3

Coastal Landscapes

Glaciated Landscapes

Topic overview The glacier as an open system Climate change and the glacier budget Glacier movement Types of ice mass and their distribution Glacial weathering and erosion processes Macro-scale erosional landforms Glacial transport and depositional landforms Fluvioglacial landforms Suites of landforms in glacial landscapes Periglacial processes and ground ice Periglacial action of water and wind Glacial change over different timescales Glacial environments and human activity

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Coastal Landscapes

High energy coasts and erosional landscape systems

3 things to know
AS Unit 1

Overview

High energy coastline, four erosional landforms found on a rocky coastline and rocky or cliffed coastline.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Key term

What is meant by a high energy coastline?

Key term

Give three conditions that make a coastline high energy.

Key term

Name four erosional landforms found on a rocky coastline.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What is meant by a high energy coastline?
Model answer
A coast where wave energy is consistently high, erosion outpaces deposition and the landscape is dominated by erosional landforms.
2
Give three conditions that make a coastline high energy.
Model answer
A long fetch, frequent strong onshore winds and deep water close inshore, so waves lose little energy before they arrive.
3
Which coasts of the British Isles are the highest energy, and why?
Model answer
The west-facing Atlantic coasts of Wales, Cornwall and western Scotland, because they receive the prevailing south-westerly winds across thousands of kilometres of open ocean.
4
Name four erosional landforms found on a rocky coastline.
Model answer
Cliffs, wave-cut platforms, headlands and bays, and the cave, arch, stack and stump sequence.
5
What is a rocky or cliffed coastline?
Model answer
A coastline where resistant rock rises directly from the sea, giving a steep profile with little permanent sediment store.
6
Explain why a high energy coast typically has narrow, discontinuous beaches.
Model answer
Wave energy removes sediment faster than it is supplied, so beach material accumulates only in sheltered pockets such as the heads of bays.

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Coastal Landscapes

Glaciated Landscapes

Tectonic Hazards

Changing Places

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AFew coastal people recognised the signs.

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The Mariana Trench reaches almost 11,000 m below sea level.

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