Coastal Landscapes and Processes | Edexcel GCSE Geography A (1GA0)
Coastal Landscapes and Processes
- 71 questions
- 5 subtopics
- Paper 1
- Paper 1
Coastal Landscapes and Processes is examined in Paper 1, The Physical Environment.
It covers coastal processes: weathering, mass movement, erosion, transport and deposition, geology, wave type and UK weather at the coast, coastal landforms of erosion and deposition, coastal recession, flooding and coastal defences and a named distinctive coastal landscape in the UK.
Sample questions from Coastal Landscapes and Processes
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Coastal processes: weathering, mass movement, erosion, transport and deposition
How is slumping different from a slide?
Show the answer
Slumped material rotates as it moves down a curved failure surface, so the slipped block tilts backwards and leaves a scar shaped like a spoon. -
Coastal processes: weathering, mass movement, erosion, transport and deposition
How are boulders and pebbles moved along the sea bed, and how does this differ from the movement of shingle and coarse sand?
Show the answer
The heaviest material is rolled and dragged along the bed by traction, while lighter shingle and sand is bounced along in short hops by saltation. -
Geology, wave type and UK weather at the coast
What is a fault, and why does it matter at the coast?
Show the answer
A fracture where rock has been shifted and shattered by earth movements, and the broken zone is much weaker, so the sea often carves a cave or inlet along it. -
Geology, wave type and UK weather at the coast
Which wave type dominates a beach in winter, and what does the beach look like as a result?
Show the answer
Destructive waves dominate, so sediment is combed offshore and the beach is left narrower, lower and steeper by the end of the season. -
Coastal landforms of erosion and deposition
Why does a cliff become steeper as it retreats?
Show the answer
Waves cut a notch at the high tide line and undercut the base, so the overhanging rock above eventually collapses and leaves a steep new face further inland. -
Coastal landforms of erosion and deposition
How does a bar form, and what is left behind it?
Show the answer
A ridge of sediment grows right across the mouth of a bay until it joins the far side, trapping a shallow lagoon of standing water on the landward side. -
Coastal recession, flooding and coastal defences
Give two environmental consequences of coastal flooding.
Show the answer
Saltwater ruins farmland and freshwater habitats for years afterwards, and floodwater can carry sewage, fuel and other pollutants into the sea and onto the land. -
Coastal recession, flooding and coastal defences
Give two disadvantages of using rip rap.
Show the answer
The boulders are often quarried far away so they look out of place and cost a lot to transport, and they can be shifted or scattered by the strongest storms.
The 5 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Coastal processes: weathering, mass movement, erosion, transport and deposition | Freeze-thaw, chemical and biological weathering of cliffs, sliding and slumping, hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition and solution, transport by traction, saltation, suspension and solution, longshore drift, and the conditions in which the sea deposits its load. | 13 |
| Geology, wave type and UK weather at the coast | Concordant and discordant coastlines and the plan shapes they give, joints and faults, hard and soft rock cliffs, destructive and constructive waves and winter beaches, prevailing south-westerly winds and fetch, and how storms and heavy rain speed up cliff retreat. | 15 |
| Coastal landforms of erosion and deposition | How headlands and bays, caves, arches, stacks and stumps form, why cliffs steepen as they retreat, wave-cut platforms, steep shingle beaches, spits and their recurved ends, bars and lagoons, and how headlands, bays, spits, stacks and wave-cut platforms are recognised on OS maps. | 13 |
| Coastal recession, flooding and coastal defences | How building, farming and industry alter the coast, coastal recession and flooding and their effects on people and the environment, hard and soft engineering, sea walls, groynes, rip rap, beach nourishment and managed retreat, and how defences reshape the coastline. | 19 |
| A named distinctive coastal landscape in the UK | What makes a coast distinctive, telling discordant from concordant, coastlines of deposition and retreat, why location matters, and the physical and human factors and evidence of change in a studied landscape. | 11 |
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
Edexcel GCSE Geography A Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 1,385 questions with their answers.