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EnglandGeographyQuick questions
Component 1: Physical Systems - Landscape Systems
Quick questions on Coastal landscapes: systems, processes and landforms - OCR A-Level Geography
4short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the coast as a system within a sediment cell?Show answer
Treating the coast as an open system with inputs, stores, transfers and outputs is the foundation of the topic. The energy inputs are waves, generated by wind blowing over the fetch; constructive waves (low, long, spilling) have a strong swash and build beaches, while destructive waves (high, steep, plunging) have a strong backwash and erode them. Tides set the vertical range over which processes act, and currents redistribute sediment. Coasts are classified by energy (high-energy, exposed, erosional versus low-energy, sheltered, depositional) and by geology: concordant coasts (rock bands parallel to the sea) form coves, while discordant coasts (bands at right angles) form headlands and bays.
What is landforms of sea-level change?Show answer
Sea level changes eustatically (a global change in the volume of ocean water, for example as ice sheets melt) and isostatically (local vertical movement of the land, for example rebound after ice unloading). Falling relative sea level produces emergent landforms such as raised beaches and abandoned cliffs; rising relative sea level drowns the coast to produce submergent landforms, rias (drowned river valleys) and fjords (drowned glacial troughs). These set the boundary conditions within which marine and sub-aerial processes then operate.
What is q1?Show answer
Describe how a wave-cut platform forms. [4 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Distinguish between a ria and a fjord. [3 marks]
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