Coastal Systems and Landscapes | AQA A-Level Geography (7037)
Coastal Systems and Landscapes
- 199 questions
- 14 subtopics
- Component 1 Section B: one landscape system of three
- Component 1
The coast as a sediment system: the energy that enters it, the erosion and deposition that follow, and the landforms produced as sea level has risen and fallen.
Closes on how coastlines are defended. One of three landscape options in Section B of Component 1.
Sample questions from Coastal Systems and Landscapes
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Energy Inputs to the Coastal System
Where does sediment go when it leaves a coastal system as an output?
Show the answer
Sediment is lost to offshore zones beyond the active coastal system -
Coastal Flows and Feedback
Give two examples of coastal landforms.
Show the answer
Cliff, beach, spit, stack, arch, cave (any two individual features) -
Marine Erosion and Transport Processes
Define solution (corrosion) as a marine erosion process.
Show the answer
The chemical dissolving of soluble rocks such as chalk and limestone by seawater. -
Cliffs, Notches and Wave-Cut Platforms
How do sub-aerial weathering processes affect cliff profiles?
Show the answer
They weaken rock above the wave-attack zone, contributing to mass movement and shaping the cliff face between marine erosion events. -
Sand Dune Formation and Succession
What are embryo dunes?
Show the answer
The earliest stage of dune development, small accumulations of sand around debris at the top of the beach. -
Estuaries, Mudflats and Saltmarsh
What is surface accretion in saltmarsh development?
Show the answer
The gradual raising of the marsh surface as trapped sediment accumulates. -
Emergent Coastlines and Present Sea Level Rise
Why might coastal erosion accelerate due to climate change?
Show the answer
Higher sea levels allow waves to attack higher parts of cliffs, and increased storm intensity provides more erosive energy. -
Hard Engineering at the Coast
Explain how revetments protect cliff faces.
Show the answer
Sloping structures of wood, concrete or rock placed against cliffs that absorb wave energy and protect the cliff face.
The 14 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Inputs to the Coastal System | Recall questions on wind, waves, the sun and tides as sources of energy entering a coastal system. | 15 |
| Coastal Flows and Feedback | Recall questions on sediment movement and wave energy transfer as flows, and on how cliff collapse can amplify change. | 13 |
| Waves, Tides and Sediment Cells | Recall questions on coastal energy sources, wave energy and fetch, swash and backwash, constructive and destructive waves, high- and low-energy coasts, tides, tidal range, spring and neap tides, and sediment cells, budgets and sources. | 14 |
| Marine Erosion and Transport Processes | Recall questions on hydraulic action, corrasion, attrition, solution, wave quarrying and cavitation, on traction, saltation, suspension and solution as transport, on longshore drift and its direction, and on the sub-aerial processes that act alongside them. | 14 |
| Cliffs, Notches and Wave-Cut Platforms | Recall questions on what starts cliff formation, how a wave-cut notch undercuts the face and what follows the collapse of the overhang. | 17 |
| Beaches, Spits and Bars | Recall questions on beaches, wave energy and beach profile, berms, how longshore drift builds and extends simple and compound spits, and on tombolos, offshore bars, barrier beaches and barrier islands. | 13 |
| Sand Dune Formation and Succession | Recall questions on where dune sand comes from and how wind and obstacles build dunes, on the succession from embryo dunes and foredunes through yellow and grey dunes to dune slacks and mature dunes, and on pioneer species. | 12 |
| Estuaries, Mudflats and Saltmarsh | Recall questions on estuaries, the conditions and fine sediment that form mudflats, flocculation, and on saltmarsh development through pioneer plants and surface accretion, with changing vegetation, zonation and creeks. | 13 |
| Sea Level Change and Coastlines of Submergence | Recall questions on eustatic change through thermal expansion, ice sheets and glaciers, isostatic change and rebound, tectonic change, sea level since the last glacial maximum, coastlines of submergence and emergence, and rias, fjords and Dalmatian coasts. | 16 |
| Emergent Coastlines and Present Sea Level Rise | Recall questions on Dalmatian coasts, raised beaches and marine platforms, and on thermal expansion as a driver of rising seas. | 18 |
| Hard Engineering at the Coast | Recall questions on what coastal intervention seeks to control and on the structure and function of sea walls and groynes. | 9 |
| Soft Engineering and Managed Retreat | Recall questions on soft engineering through beach nourishment, dune stabilisation, managed retreat and cliff regrading, its advantages and drawbacks against hard engineering, Shoreline Management Plan policies, Integrated Coastal Zone Management, cost-benefit analysis and conflicting stakeholders. | 19 |
| The Holderness coast case study | The Holderness coast as a UK case study of rapid cliff erosion in soft glacial till, the sediment it feeds south to Spurn Point, and the costs and consequences of defending Mappleton, Easington and the rest of the coastline. | 13 |
| The Sundarbans and the Ganges–Brahmaputra delta | The Sundarbans mangrove coast of the Ganges–Brahmaputra delta as a contrasting coastal landscape beyond the UK, covering its depositional processes, cyclone and sea level risks, polders and shrimp farming, and how its communities respond. | 13 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
AQA A-Level Geography Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 3,320 questions with their answers.