Geography·Physical Geography · NSSCO 1.5
Coastal & marine processes
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Stand at the edge of the sea and it looks like the same waves rolling in forever — but the coast is one of the busiest, most restless places on Earth. In this lesson we look closely at a wave, discover how the wind makes it, and meet swash and backwash — the push and pull that decides whether a beach grows or shrinks. We'll watch waves carve cliffs, notches, caves, arches, stacks and headlands, follow the sand as longshore drift zig-zags it along the shore to build beaches, spits, bars and tombolos, and finish with the hard and soft ways people try to protect Namibia's Atlantic coast.
What you'll learn in this lesson
By the end you should be able to (NSSCO Geography 1.5):
- Describe the features of a wave and explain how a wave is generated
- Distinguish between swash and backwash, and between constructive and destructive waves, and explain the energy of the waves
- Name and describe the erosional processes of wave action: corrasion, hydraulic action, corrosion and attrition
- Describe and explain coastal erosion landforms: cliffs, wave-cut notches, wave-cut platforms, caves, arches, stacks, stumps, headlands and bays
- Describe the transportation of material along the coastline by longshore drift
- Explain the formation of landforms resulting from onshore and offshore movement, and name and describe depositional landforms: beaches, spits, bars and tombolos
- Name and describe hard and soft engineering methods of coastal protection: groynes, seawalls, gabions, revetments (hard) and beach nourishment and land management (soft)
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Mr Thomas and Mike talk through the whole topic — with the figure and working drawn live.