Coasts key terms

Front

abrasion

Back

Erosion involving a 'sandpapering effect' as sediment is dragged up and down or across the shoreline, eroding and smoothing rocky surfaces.

Front

accretion

Back

Coastal sediment being deposited on a beach, making it wider.

Front

arch

Back

An arch-shaped rock formation created when two caves join up, or a single cave is eroded through a headland.

Front

attrition

Back

The gradual wearing down of rock particles by impact and abrasion, as pieces of rock are moved by waves, tides, and currents.

Front

barrier beach (or bar)

Back

Where a beach or spit extends across a bay to join two headlands.

Front

barrier island

Back

Where a beach becomes separated from the mainland.

Front

berm

Back

A ridge or plateau on the beach formed by the deposition of beach material by wave action.

Front

biological weathering

Back

The breakdown of rocks by organic activity.

Front

cave

Back

A chamber in the rock formed when joints and faults are eroded by hydraulic action and abrasion.

Front

cavitation

Back

When a wave advances and air becomes trapped and compressed in joints in the rock or between a breaking wave and a cliff.