These seven questions use original, invented coasts. They follow the lessons in coastal processes and management and move from sorting to evaluation.
Draw each diagram, write your answer, then open the explanation.
Questions
Question 1: Classify each as erosional or depositional: cave, spit, stump, beach.
Answer
Cave: erosional (waves widen a crack in the rock). Spit: depositional (a ridge built of sediment). Stump: erosional (what remains of a stack after waves wear it down). Beach: depositional (sand or shingle laid down).
Question 2: An original beach runs east to west with the sea to the north. Waves travel from the north-west towards the south-east. Give the net direction of sediment movement.
Answer
Swash carries sediment up the beach towards the south-east, so it shifts east as it climbs. Backwash returns straight down, to the north. The net movement is eastwards.
Question 3: A pebble moves 2.5 m along the shore in each wave cycle. How far does it move after 48 cycles?
Answer
48 × 2.5 = 120 m along the shore, in the net direction of the drift.
Question 4: A groyne is built on an original beach where drift runs west to east. The west beach changes from 18 m to 30 m wide. The east beach changes from 22 m to 9 m. Find each change and state the updrift side.
Answer
West change: 30 − 18 = +12 m. East change: 9 − 22 = −13 m.
The west side is updrift, because the drift comes from the west. The groyne traps sand there, so the east side is starved.
Question 5: The aim is to protect a road, with a budget of RM2 200 000 over 10 years. Option P is a sea wall at RM2 000 000 plus RM40 000 a year. Option Q is nourishment at RM700 000 every 4 years, starting now. Which fits the budget?
Answer
Option P: 2 000 000 + (10 × 40 000) = RM2 400 000, over the budget.
Option Q is applied at years 0, 4 and 8, so 3 × 700 000 = RM2 100 000, within the budget.
Option Q fits. Its limitation is that the sand must be replaced.
Question 6: Name one limitation of mangrove planting as coastal protection.
Answer
Mangroves take years to grow to a size that can reduce wave energy, so protection is slow to arrive. They also suit only sheltered, muddy shores, not open sandy beaches. Either point earns credit.
Question 7: Erosion rates before and after a wall are 1.0 m per year and 0.1 m per year on the protected stretch, and 0.8 m per year and 1.6 m per year on the stretch next to it. Find the percentage change on each and write one sentence of interpretation.
Answer
Protected stretch: (1.0 − 0.1) ÷ 1.0 = 0.9, so a 90% fall.
Next stretch: (1.6 − 0.8) ÷ 0.8 = 1, so a 100% rise.
Interpretation: “The wall cut erosion by 90% where it stands, but erosion on the neighbouring stretch doubled, so the problem has moved along the coast.”
If you got these wrong
Question 2 and 3 test tracing sediment movement. Question 1 tests distinguishing erosional and depositional landforms. Questions 4 and 7 test how a structure changes sediment distribution. Questions 5 and 6 test comparing coastal responses.
Log your slips in the mistake log and paper-error review. To go through them with a teacher, see online one-to-one Geography tuition.