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Coastal Landscapes in the UK

Coastal landforms of erosion and deposition

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1 section C

Overview

Concordant and discordant coasts, how rock type and lines of weakness shape cliffs, the formation of headlands and bays, wave cut platforms, caves, arches, stacks and stumps, and beaches, spits, bars and sand dunes.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What is the difference between a concordant and a discordant coastline?

Key term

How does the type of rock affect the shape of a cliff?

Process

How do headlands and bays form where bands of hard and soft rock reach the sea?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What is the difference between a concordant and a discordant coastline?

    Model answer

    On a concordant coast the bands of rock run parallel to the sea, so the coastline is fairly straight and even. On a discordant coast the bands meet the sea end on, so weaker and more resistant rock is worn back at different rates.

  2. 2

    How does the type of rock affect the shape of a cliff?

    Model answer

    Resistant rock such as granite or chalk is eroded slowly and stands as a high, steep cliff, while weak rock such as clay or sand is worn back quickly into a lower and much gentler slope.

  3. 3

    How do joints, faults and bedding planes influence where coastal landforms develop?

    Model answer

    They are lines of weakness that waves and weathering attack first, so erosion is concentrated along them and hollows open up there rather than evenly across the rock face.

  4. 4

    How do headlands and bays form where bands of hard and soft rock reach the sea?

    Model answer

    The weaker rock is eroded faster and retreats to leave a curved inlet, or bay, while the tougher rock is left standing out into the sea as a headland.

  5. 5

    Explain how a cliff retreats and leaves a wave cut platform behind it.

    Model answer

    Waves cut a notch into the base of the cliff between the tide marks until the rock above overhangs and collapses, and this is repeated so the cliff moves steadily inland. What is left where the cliff once stood is a gently sloping rocky ledge, exposed at low tide.

  6. 6

    How does a cave form in a headland?

    Model answer

    Hydraulic power and abrasion widen an existing crack in the rock into a hollow, and continued erosion deepens that hollow until it becomes a cave.

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