- Wind- this is when an area of high pressure meets an area of low pressure caused by the evaporation of the oceans. This creates wind with its temperature depending on the ocean’s temperature.
- Waves- these are formed when the prevailing wind create a frictional force with the surface of the waters, which causes the water particles beneath the water to move in a circular motion. This motion is what gives the waves its crescent shape. Depending on the velocity of the wind, will depend on the wave frequency. As the waves approach the coastline, the gradient of the sea bed increases , which causes the water particles to move in and elliptical motion, increasing the wavelength before crashing into the coastline.
- Constructive waves- 6 to 8 waves per minute, strong swash and weak backwash, forms landforms of the deposition, will become less common in the future.
- destructive waves- 10 to 14 waves per minute, strong backwash and weak swash, forms landforms of erosion, more common due to sea level rise.
- Tides- these are changes in the depth of the water and depend on the strength of the gravitational force between the sun and the moon. These can be split into spring and neap tides spring tides are when the sun, moon and the earth are aligned which produces the strongest gravitational force, creating high high tides and high low tides. neap tides are tides which form when the sun and moon are perpendicular to each other, producing a weaker gravitational force. These tides have low high tides and low low tides. These tides come out every six hours and 25 minutes.
- Currents- these are fast flowing bodies of water found in the oceans, which allow aquatic animals to migrate through the oceans. These usually form in warmer oceans. Though in coastal areas, rip currents can form. This is when there is an accumulated swash up on the foreshore zone of a beach that is unable to move back down the beach as backwash due to the incoming swash. Therefore, the accumulated swash moves beneath the incoming swash, as backwash creates a fast flowing current that is strong enough to sweep people off their feet and drag them to the open sea. Thus, posing a hazard to humans if not careful.
Factors affecting wave energy
- Factors affecting wave energy- wind, fetch, velocity and duration of wind
- Low energy coastlines- these tend to have greater numbers of landforms of the position, they are more valuable for local areas because they attract tourists, most have hard engineered defences as people want to protect them.
- High energy – these tend to have more landforms of erosion with craggy cliff faces, so is not as valuable for local people which is why these places tend not be as populated.
Sediment cells
- Sediment cells- these are stetches of coastline between two perturding headlands which have been identified as its own closed system. There are 11 sediment cells in the UK, each has its own sources and transfers like the Holderness coastline.
- Sediment sources- rivers (the biggeset source), clifface erosion, glacier
- Sediment flows- longshore drift, aeolian deposition (by wind), suspension
- Sediment budgets- this is when the level of inputs and outputs of a system vary. A growing beach would have a positive sediment budget as the inputs are greater than the outputs.