Coasts

1. Coasts are boundaries between sea and land where waves, tides and currents interact with rock and sediments.

2. The nature of land, strength of waves, weather, size of tides all affect the coastline.

3. The British coastline is very diverse.

4. Much of Britain’s coastline is made up of cliffs.

5. Coasts form over many hundreds of years, but are changing on a daily basis.

6. Energy in waves constantly affects the shape of coastlines - global warming could also have a considerable effect.

7. Erosion is the process of changing the coastline through changing the form of the land.

8. Local currents have effect on coastlines causing regular erosion, deposition and transportation of beach materials.

9. Small pieces of rock rub against each other and wear themselves down into small rounded stones, which is called attrition.

10. The salt water of the sea dissolves the minerals in some forms of rock, which is called corrosion.

11. As waves break against the cliffs, hydraulic action causes trapped air to tear open cracks and break rocks away.

12. Harder rock cliffs are more resistant to erosion, but take more dramatic forms as they erode.

13. Coasts with clay cliffs erode rapidly because of sea and rainfall water.

14. The cliffs give way and deposit sand and clay on beaches.

15. Some rocks may be eroded by acids in the sea.

16. Bays are indents in the coastline, formed when the sea attacks a coastline made from alternate sections of hard and soft rock.

17. A piece of land, called a headland, juts out into the sea, leaving a bay where the soft rock has been eroded.

18. Beaches are stretches of coast made of pebbles or sand.

19. Waves pick up sediment, sand particles and small stones and move them along the coast.

20. They waves drop them as they slow down, making beaches.

21. Beaches are mainly formed from sand or gravel, usually called shingle, but some may be made of pebbles and stones.

22. Mudflats can form when river and sea water meet - mixture of salt and fresh water encourages mud particles to stick together and settle.

23. They are found in estuaries and other sheltered areas and support a vast range of wildlife.