Exam 14: Waves, Beaches, and Coasts

Longshore currents transport most of the beach sand parallel to the shoreline.

Waves arriving at an angle to the shore push water parallel to the shore in a ______.

Waves break because:

The vertical distance between the crest and the trough of a wave is called the ____.

Wave orbits decrease in size until motion is gone at a depth equal to twice wavelength.

Water in _____ has lost its orbital motion and moves back and forth.

A particle of water in a wave moves in a circular orbit as the wave passes; the particle returns to its original position after the wave has passed.

An irregular coast with bays separated by headlands can be straightened by plate tectonic forces.

Tidal deltas are usually associated with _________.

More sand is moved along the beach face than in the surf zone.

Wave erosion of headlands produces ____, steep slopes that retreat inland by mass wasting as wave erosion undercuts them.

A _____ is a bar of sediment that connects a former island to the mainland.

Barrier islands are associated with an erosional coastline.

Gravel beaches have a steeper face slope than sand beaches.

Groins are short walls built parallel to shore to keep sand from moving.

The upper part of a beach landward of the high tide line is the _____.

The sea level rise in the past 15,000 years is due to ____.

A ___ encompasses all land near the sea, including the beach and a strip of land inland from it.

Sediment may build up off a point of land to form a ____.

_____ are wave cut platforms formed by erosion of rock associated with cliff retreat.