Test your knowledge of weathering and erosion of cliffs for A level with this 14-question quiz.

 If you haven't already done it, work through the coasts weathering and erosion web enquiry on the PowerPoint. Or do it again to help fill in any gaps in what you know!

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HIGH SCORES

Rank Name Score
1st G<3 28
2nd COC 28
3rd JEB 28
4th F.Z 28
5th Hex 28
6th Aaa 28
7th COK 28
8th JWS 28
9th MMM 28
10th dre 28

QUIZZES // Coasts: weathering and erosion of cliffs

Q1. What percentage of the world’s coastline do you think is made up of cliffs?

8%

18%

80%

100%

Q2. Which one of these types of equilibrium describes the state of a coastal system where change is minimal from year to year?

Steady state equilibrium

Meta-stable equilibrium

Dynamic equilibrium

Closed system

Q3. Coastal systems and coastal morphology take time to respond to changing conditions. Which one of these terms is used to describe the period required for the adjustment to occur?

Positive feedback

Sediment pathway

Evolution

Relaxation time

Q4. Which one of the following is the best description of physical weathering?

The decomposition of rock

The disintegration of rock

The destabilisation of rock

The downwearing of rock

Q5. ‘Weathering is the loosening and breaking down of rock in situ.’ Which one of the following best explains what in situ means?

For the time being

In the original position

From the start/from the beginning

From the depths/from the deepest part

Q6. Which one of the following is a chemical weathering process, rather than a mechanical (or physical) one?

Freeze-thaw

Wetting and drying

Chelation

Crystal growth

Q7. Which one of the following is an important factor influencing mass movement on coastal cliffs?

Water content of the slope

Wave height

Sources of sediment

Entrainment

Q8. Which one of the following is a type of marine erosion?

Saltation

Sediment cell

Hydraulic action

Longshore drift

Q9. Which one of these types of marine erosion is when sediment particles collide with each other in the waves and are broken into smaller pieces, and also rounded over time?

Attrition

Abrasion

Cavitation

Bioerosion

Q10. Which one of these would be most likely to develop with a rise in sea level?

Wider beaches in front of cliffs

Decreased erosion

Slower cliff retreat

Increased erosion at the cliff foot

Q11. Coasts are often a dynamic environment, especially when they are high energy. Which one of the following terms is used to describe coastal environments where processes are producing landform changes?

Hydrodynamic

Morphodynamic

Aerodynamic

Biodynamic

Q12. In terms of cliff sway, in what direction have cliffs been recorded moving as waves add load onto the cliff foreshore?

Downward and seaward

Upward and landward

Downward and landward

Upward and seaward

Q13. The cliff sway theory suggests that a new form of weathering may be taking place as a result of cliff movement and vibration due to wave motion. Which one of these would this be?

Increased hydraulic action from higher wave energies

Higher sea level due to cliff dip

Damage to rock inside the cliff

Increased abrasion due to increased rock falls

Q14. What is left after cliff erosion is often a horizontal or gently-sloping rocky surface. Why is it more accurate to refer to this surface as a shore platform rather than a wave-cut platform?

Because these rocky surfaces are always found at the shore

Because they are not only formed by wave erosion, but by weathering and also by bio-erosion.

Because wave erosion actually has nothing to do with their formation: they are the result of rock strata orientation

Because sea level change is likely to increase their gradient

Finished!

You scored this time. The more correct answers you give, and the fewer incorrect answers you guess, the better your score.

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