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GEOL 120: CHAPTER 15
Continental Crust |
Floats "higher" on the mantle
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Oceanic Crust |
"floats deeper" in the mantle
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Continental Shelf |
Shallow (0 - 500m), gently sloping part of the ocean floor
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Continental Slope |
Part of the ocean floor that descends from 500m to 4km at around 2 degrees
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Continental Rise |
Part of the ocean floor that is a transition zone from 4 to 4.5km.
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Abyssal Plain |
Flat, low-relief part of the ocean floor that is below 4.5km.
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Thermohaline circulation |
Upwelling and downwelling driven by contrasts in water density caused by differences in temperature and salinity.
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Spring Tides |
When the sun and moon line up, bigger tides.
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Neap Tides |
When the sun and moon don't line up, smaller tides.
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Breakers |
Waves that crash into the beach
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Wave Refraction |
Waves hitting irregular shorelines bend. Focused on headlines (places where higher land protrudes into the sea), weaker in embayments (places set back from the sea).
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Longshore current |
Consists of the transport of sediments along a coast at an angle to the shoreline, which is dependent on prevailing wind direction, swash and backwash This process occurs in the littoral zone, and in or within close proximity to the surf zone.
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Barrier Island |
Elongated, linear sand bars. Form where sand is plentiful.
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Wave-cut Notches |
Waves erode an overhang, causing the cliff to eventually collapse and the cycle continue.
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Wave-cut Bench |
An erosional remnant of a former cliff that was eroded away that is only visible during low tide.
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Estuaries |
River valleys flooded by marine water, a mixture of fresh and salt water. Related to glaciation.
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Fjord |
U shaped glacial valleys.
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Emergent Coasts |
Coast where the land is rising / rose, relative to sea level. Characters by river incision, cliffs, wave-cut notches and platforms.
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Submergent Coasts |
Coast where the land is falling / fell relative to sea level. Characterized by flooded river or glacial valleys creating estuaries and fjords.
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Accretionary Coasts |
Coasts where net sediment is accumulated.
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Erosional Coasts |
Coasts where sediment is removed faster than its supplied.
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