What are the 4 features of coastal erosion?
Destructive waves erode through four main processes; Hydraulic Action, Compression, Abrasion and Attrition. Image credit: Jeff Hansen, U.S. Geological Survey. Hydraulic Action is the sheer force of water crashing against the coastline causing material to be dislodged and carried away by the sea.
What are the 4 erosion processes?
Erosional processes along coastlines include: (1) the direct effects of hydraulic action, wedging, and cavitation by waves; (2) abrasion (corrasion), using sand, gravel, and larger rock fragments as tools; (3) attrition of the rock particles themselves during this abrasive action; (4) salt weathering or fretting; (5) …
What features are caused by coastal erosion?
Landforms of erosional coasts
- Sea cliffs. The most widespread landforms of erosional coasts are sea cliffs.
- Wave-cut platforms. At the base of most cliffs along a rocky coast one finds a flat surface at about the mid-tide elevation.
- Sea stacks.
- Sea arches.
What are coastal features and processes?
Waves, tide, and wind dominate coastal processes and landforms. Rivers deliver sediment to the coast, where it can be reworked to form deltas, beaches, dunes, and barrier islands.
What are the four main processes of coastal erosion?
There are four main processes of coastal erosion. These are corrasion, abrasion, hydraulic action and attrition. Corrasion is when destructive waves pick up beach material (e.g. pebbles) and hurl them at the base of a cliff.
What are the most common features of erosion?
Features of Coastal Erosion. Headlands and Bays. Headlands and bays most commonly form on discordant coastlines. As soft rock (for example, clay) erodes more easily than hard rock (for example, chalk), bays and headlands are created. As the soft rock erodes to create bays, with hard rock creating headlands on either side.
How are waves and attrition related to coastal erosion?
Attrition is when waves cause rocks and pebbles to bump into each other and break up. Corrosion/solution is when certain types of cliff erode as a result of weak acids in the sea. What factors affect the rate of coastal erosion? Coastal erosion is most significant when: a headland sticks out into the sea and waves converge on it (wave refraction).
How does the ocean affect the shape of the coastline?
The ocean is a huge force of erosion. Coastal erosion —the wearing away of rocks, earth, or sand on the beach—can change the shape of entire coastlines. During the process of coastal erosion, waves pound rocks into pebbles and pebbles into sand. Wave s and current s sometimes transport sand away from beach es, moving the coastline farther inland.
