C+-+Glossary

Fetch: the distance of open water over which the wind can blow Beach: a deposit of sand or shingle at the coast, often found at the head of a bay Crest: the top of a wave Swash: the forward movement of a wave up a beach Backwash: the backward movement of water down a beach when a wave has broken Constructive wave: a powerful wave with a strong swash that surges up a beach Destructive wave: a wave formed by a local storm that crashes down onto a beach and has a powerful backwash Rockfall: the collapse of a clff face or the fall of individual rocks from a cliff Hydraulic power: the sheer power of the waves Corrasion: the effect of rocks being flung at the cliff by powerful waves Solution: the dissolving of rocks, such as limestone and chalk Attrition: the knocking together of pebbles, making them gradually smaller and smoother Traction: heavy particles rolled along the seabed Solution: the transport of dissolved chemicals Saltation: a hopping movement of pebbles along the seabed Suspension: lighter particles carried (suspended) within the water Longshore drift: the transport of sediment along a stretch of coastline caused by waves appraoching the beach at an angle Headland: a promontory of land jutting out into the sea Bay: a board coastal inlet often with a beach Wave-cut platform: a wide, gently sloping rocky surface at the foot of a cliff Cave: a hollowed-out feature at the base of an eroding cliff Arch: a headland that has been partly broken through by the sea to form a thin-roofed arch Stack: an isolated pinnacle of rock sticking out of the sea Spit: a finger of new land made of sand or shinglem jutting out into the sea from the coast Salt marsh: low-lying coastal wetland mostly extending between high and low tide Bar: a spit that has grown across a bay Shoreline Managment Plan: an integrated coastal managment plan for a stretch of coaslting in England and Wales Hard engineering: building artificial structures such as sea walls aimed at controlling natural processes Soft enegineering: a sustainable approach to managing the coast without using artificial structures Managed retreat: allowing controlled flooding of low-lying coastal areas or cliff collapse in areas where the value of the land is low Pioneer plant: the first plant psecies to colonise an area that is well adapted to living in a harsh environment Vegetation succession: a sequence of vegetation species colonising an environment