LESSON 1

TOPIC: WHAT CAUSES WAVES AND TIDES? (Pages 52 & 53)

Key points
 Waves are caused by wind dragging on the surface of the water. The length
of water the wind blows over is called the fetch.
 Waves break at the shore, giving turbulent water called swash. The water that
rushes up the sand is called the uprush; it then rolls back into the sea as
backwash.
 When the uprush is stronger than the backwash, material is added to the
beach. If the backwash is stronger than the uprush, the beach is eroded.
 The moon and the Sun exert a gravitational force on Earth, drawing the sea
upwards.
 Rises and falls in water level are called tides. There are high tides at any given
place about every twelve and a half hours, and low tides in between.

Figure 1.1

Definition of terms
 Coast - A coast is a part of land adjoining or near the sea. It is also known as
the coastline or seashore defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or
as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or lake.
 Waves - Waves are orbital oscillations of water particles generated by the
frictional drag of the wind moving over the sea surface.
 Fetch - The distance over which the wind has been blowing over the sea. In
other words, it is the length of water the wind blows over before it meets the
coast.
 Tide –Tides are the rise and fall of the sea.
 Wind – This is the air in motion. In other words, it is the movement of the air.
 Swash – This is the water that rushes up the beach when a wave breaks.
 Uprush – This is the water which rushes up the beach after the wave has
broken.
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  Backwash – This is the water that runs down the beach.
 Beach – An area of sand or small stones, deposited by waves.
 Estuary - An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish with one
or more rivers or streams flowing into it and with a free connection to the
open sea.
 Prevailing wind – The wind that blows most often. In other words, prevailing
winds are the dominant winds that consistently blow in a particular direction
over a specific region or area.
 Southwest wind – The wind that blows from the southwest.

Types of coast
 Types of coastline include the Ria coast and Fiord coast, barrier-island coasts
and Delta coast, volcano and coral reef coast, fault coasts, raised shorelines
and marine terraces, etc.
Types of waves
 Destructive (erosional) waves (also called surging or plunging waves;
 Constructive (depositional) waves (also called spilling waves)
Factors that determine the height of the waves in a place
 Wind strength
 Duration of wind/amount of time it has blown for
 Depth of water
 The shape of the coastline
 Length of the fetch.
Causes of tides/occurrence of tides
 As the moon travels around the Earth, it attracts the sea and pulls the water
upwards.
 The sun also attracts the sea that is turned towards it but to a lesser extent,
since the sun is much further away.

Figure 1.2
 In Figure 1.2 above, B wind produces the largest waves. Because it is the
strongest, with the longest fetch. A wind produces the smallest waves.
Because it is light, like C wind, but has a shorter fetch.

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LESSON 2
TOPIC: WHAT WORK DO THE WAVES DO? (Pages 54 & 55)
Key points
 Waves continually shape the coastline by eroding, transporting and depositing
materials. Weathering helps this process by making erosion easier.
 The wave erodes rock by the processes of hydraulic action, solution, abrasion
and attrition.
 The eroded material is carried along the coastline by the process of longshore
drift.
 Beaches form in sheltered areas where the waves deposit sand or shingle.
 Some resorts have groynes to stop sand from being carried away by longshore
drift.

Definitions of terms
 Coastal erosion: This is the wearing away/destruction/damage/breaking
up/degradation (of land/cliffs) by waves/the sea.
 Coastal transportation: This is the movement of weathered rocks/eroded
materials by waves/the sea.
 Deposition: This refers to the deposition of weathered rocks/materials
carried by the waves/the sea.
 Attrition: particles carried by the waves crash against each other and are
broken up into smaller particles.
 Corrasion/abrasion: particles carried by the waves crash against the cliffs,
eroding the cliffs.
 Corrosion/solution: Acids in the water wear away the rocks/rocks are
dissolved by the chemicals in the water etc.
 Hydraulic action: Waves trap/compress air in cracks/cliffs are eroded by the
power/weight of waves etc.
 Longshore drift: How sand and other material is carried parallel to the shore,
by the waves.
 Groyne: Barrier of wood or stone down a beach, to stop sand being washed
away. Groyne seems to be perfectly working when more sand has built up on
the side of each groyne (the side facing the waves) than the other.

The work that waves do

 Waves erode
 Waves transport material
 Waves deposit material

Processes of coastal erosion

Four ways by which waves erode rock include:
 Hydraulic action
 Attrition
 Corrasion/abrasion
 Corrosion/solution

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 Figure 1.3

X and Y are beach pebbles of the same type of rock. The Y pebble has been in the
water for a longer period, making it smoother as any projections on its surface have
been worn away through knocking against other particles. The process of attrition
has made Y so smooth.

Figure 1.4

In Figure 1.4 above, B represents a beach. Sand is deposited there because it is

sheltered. The sand at B originates from the erosion of rocks, with at least some of
it likely coming from the rocks at A.

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LESSON 3

TOPIC: WHICH LANDFORMS DO THE WAVES CREATE? (Pages 56 & 57)

Figure 1.5 (A & B)

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Key points

 Erosion and deposition by waves result in different coastal landforms.

 Waves erode different types of rock at different rates. Hard rock erodes
more slowly than adjacent soft rock. The result is headlands and
adjoining bays. In other words, in areas where soft rock reaches the coast,
this is easily eroded to form a bay. More resistant rocks form headlands.
 On the headlands, waves attack the rock face along the lines of weakness
between the high and low watermarks.

 Sand carried by longshore drift may be deposited in bays, forming beaches.

Or in the sea, where the coast changes direction sharply, forming spit.
 Silt and mud collect in the sheltered area behind a spit, forming a salt marsh.

Figure 1.6
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Summary of landforms by waves

Created by ...
Landform Definition Erosion Deposition
Cliff A big mass of rock with a steep face √
Headland Land that juts out into the sea √
Wave-cut The flat rocky area left when waves √
platform erode a cliff.
Bay A smooth curve of coast between two √
headlands
Cave A large hollow in rock, for example in √
the side of a cliff
Arch The curved structure left when the sea √
erodes through a cave
Stack A pillar of rock left when the top of an √
arch collapses
Beach An area of sand or small stones, √
deposited by waves
Spit A strip of sand or shingle in the sea √
Salt march A low-lying marshy area by the sea √

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LESSON 4
TOPIC: WHAT DO WE USE THE COAST FOR? (Pages 58 & 58)

Key points
The sea shapes and changes the coast, and so do we – via the different ways in which
we use it. Based on the diagrams/images on page 58 of Geog. 2, we use coast for:

A. Leisure
B. Fishing
C. Wind power
D. Ports
E. Farming
F. Industry
G. Settlement
H. Defence
I. dredging

Land use can cause conflict.

Conflict is a disagreement between people.

i. There might be conflict over the land use/activities shown in the pair of
photos B and I on page 58 of Geog 2 because fishing nets might get caught
in dredging machinery. Dredging affects, the habitat of fish, so they may move
elsewhere, reducing the catch.
ii. There might be conflict over the land use/activities shown in the pair of
photos F and G on page 58 of Geog 2 because people living by the coast may
object to industry as it is noisy, polluting, and soils the view.
iii. There might be conflict over the land use/activities shown in the pair of
photos F and A on page 58 of Geog 2 because beach resorts would be less
popular if industry were nearby, for similar reasons as in ii above.

Disadvantages of having coastline

 Expensive in transporting people, goods and services

 Insularity – people may not bother to learn other langugaes
 Risk of coastal erosion
 Drowning of lowlying coasts as sea levels rise, etc.