Exam 15: Shorelines and Shoreline Processes

The two important types of nearshore currents are ____________________ currents and ____________________ currents.

Wave-cut platforms along northern coastlines of North America and the Great Lakes are exposed as the result of:

How do marine terraces form?

What are winter and summer beaches? How can the same beach have two such different seasonal profiles?

What are barrier islands, and where do they form? How does the sand migrate on barrier islands?

Why do waves bend or refract as they approach shorelines?

The presidential proclamation in the United States claims sovereign rights over an area extending 200 nautical miles seaward is _________________________.

A spit that connects an island to the mainland is a:

Nearly all beach sand is quartz.

Energy is transferred from wind to water to generate waves by ____________________.

Methane hydrates could provide a lot of energy for us to use. Outline the reasons that these resources are not yet being used.

What causes tides? Which of these is stronger, and why?

What caused the bulk of the damage by Hurricane Katrina to the city of New Orleans? Why was New Orleans so vulnerable?

Define the photic and aphotic zones in the ocean.

How do shoreline processes tend to straighten an initially irregular shoreline?

Rip currents commonly develop in regions where wave heights are highest.

A structure built perpendicular to shore to enlarge a beach or prevent erosion is a(n) ____________________.

What is a wave-cut platform, and how does one develop?

How are sea cliffs eroded?

A(n) ____________________ is the location where land meets the sea; a(n) ____________________ is that plus the land both seaward and landward of it.