GCSE Geography | Coastline Features Caused by Coastal Deposition

Geography Quiz - Coastal Deposition (Questions)

Waves do not only wear coasts away, they also build them. This GCSE Geography quiz explores how coastal deposition creates beaches and other coastal landforms.

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Fascinating Fact:

Beaches are formed by deposited material, with sandy beaches usually found in sheltered areas and shingle beaches on more exposed coasts.

In GCSE Geography, coastal deposition is studied alongside erosion to explain how coastlines develop over time. Pupils learn how constructive waves, longshore drift, and changes in wave energy lead to the build-up of sediment. This helps to explain the formation of beaches, spits, and bars, as well as why different stretches of coastline can look and behave very differently.

Key Terms

Coastal deposition: The process where waves lose energy and drop sand, shingle, or mud, building up new features along the coastline.
Longshore drift: The movement of beach material along the coast, caused by waves approaching at an angle and returning straight down the beach under gravity.
Spit: A narrow stretch of sand or shingle that extends from the land out to sea, formed when deposited material builds up beyond a headland or river mouth.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What is coastal deposition in GCSE Geography?

In GCSE Geography, coastal deposition is when waves drop the material they are carrying because they no longer have enough energy to transport it. This builds up features such as spits, bars, and wide beaches.

What conditions encourage deposition along a coastline?

Deposition is encouraged by gentle, constructive waves, sheltered bays, low wind speeds, and a good supply of sediment from rivers or eroding cliffs. Under these conditions, more material is deposited than removed.

How does longshore drift help form new coastal landforms?

Longshore drift moves material step by step along the shore. Where the coastline changes direction, or at a river mouth, this transported sediment can build out into the sea, forming landforms such as spits and bars.

Try These Related Quizzes

Depostion occurs when waves lose energy and deposit their load. Which of the following is not another reason that deposition is likely to occur?

[ ]	Waves enter an area of shallow water
[ ]	There is little or no wind
[ ]	Waves enter a large open area, such as moving from a bay to the open sea
[ ]	There is a large amount of material to be deposited

Backwash is when a wave washes back down the beach. What do we call the opposite, when the wave washes up the beach?

[ ]	Swash
[ ]	Longshore drift
[ ]	Deposition
[ ]	Constructive

What is longshore drift?

[ ]	The process where a reef is eroded on the upstream side and deposited on the downstream side, gradually moving it along the coast
[ ]	The process that forms a high-tide line on a beach of flotsam and jetsam, as material is deposited by the movement of waves in and out
[ ]	The transportation of sediments (clay, silt, sand and shingle) along a coast at an angle to the shoreline, in a zig-zag pattern
[ ]	When a boat or other object comes to rest on a sandy shore material builds up downstream of the hull, and is eroded from upstream

Which of the following is not a method of coastal transportation?

[ ]	Erosion
[ ]	Solution
[ ]	Suspension
[ ]	Traction

In terms of backwash and swash, when is deposition most likely to occur?

[ ]	When backwash is equal to swash deposition is more likely to occur
[ ]	When backwash is stronger than swash deposition is more likely to occur
[ ]	Deposition occurs in neither swash nor backwash
[ ]	When swash is stronger than backwash deposition is more likely to occur

Constructive waves are most likely to occur on which sort of beach?

[ ]	A flat or shallow beach
[ ]	A steep beach
[ ]	A beach with sheer cliffs and a strong wave action
[ ]	A beach that is heavily used for tourism

Some beaches are protected by an offshore landform known as a reef. Which of the following is not a way reefs may form?

[ ]	Sand banks build up as material is deposited away from the beach
[ ]	Cliffs erode unevenly and leave behind land after arches collapse
[ ]	Coral based creatures grow at the point of optimal light growth
[ ]	Beach protection measures are artifically constructed to protect the land or provide leisure opportunities

What sort of shape should a constructive wave have?

[ ]	A steep crest with a short wavelength
[ ]	A high wave in proportion to its length with a tall breaker
[ ]	A low wave height and a long wavelength
[ ]	A long wavelength and a steep breaker

Spurn Head is a famous coastal spit across the mouth of the River Humber. The material that has built up the spit is the result of longshore drift. Why has this spit formed at this location?

[ ]	The change in currents as the river enters the sea causes more energy to enter the system
[ ]	The pollution coming down the river is deposited at this point. This allows the material moving down the coast to build up here
[ ]	There is a natural reef at this point that material builds up on, aided by longshore drift
[ ]	The energy in the waves and the river is reduced at this location causing the material to be deposited

10.

What is a tombolo?

[ ]	A spit connecting an island to the mainland
[ ]	A beach with a lake behind it
[ ]	A type of lagoon
[ ]	A type of headland that terminates at a different type of rock

Geography Quiz - Coastal Deposition (Answers)

Depostion occurs when waves lose energy and deposit their load. Which of the following is not another reason that deposition is likely to occur?

[ ]	Waves enter an area of shallow water
[ ]	There is little or no wind
[x]	Waves enter a large open area, such as moving from a bay to the open sea
[ ]	There is a large amount of material to be deposited

When waves enter a cove or bay they are more likely to slow in the shelter and drop their load rather than the other way round

Backwash is when a wave washes back down the beach. What do we call the opposite, when the wave washes up the beach?

[x]	Swash
[ ]	Longshore drift
[ ]	Deposition
[ ]	Constructive

Swash is the period after the wave has broken and it washes up the beach. Swash normally acts at an angle to the beach rather than straight up and down. Swash and backwash are the noises you hear as the water runs up and down the beach

What is longshore drift?

[ ]	The process where a reef is eroded on the upstream side and deposited on the downstream side, gradually moving it along the coast
[ ]	The process that forms a high-tide line on a beach of flotsam and jetsam, as material is deposited by the movement of waves in and out
[x]	The transportation of sediments (clay, silt, sand and shingle) along a coast at an angle to the shoreline, in a zig-zag pattern
[ ]	When a boat or other object comes to rest on a sandy shore material builds up downstream of the hull, and is eroded from upstream

On Holderness coast most of the eroded material is carred out to sea, but some is moved south via longshore drift to form Spurn Head

Which of the following is not a method of coastal transportation?

[x]	Erosion
[ ]	Solution
[ ]	Suspension
[ ]	Traction

Both coastal and river transport methods are the same - Solution, Suspension, Saltation and Traction

In terms of backwash and swash, when is deposition most likely to occur?

[ ]	When backwash is equal to swash deposition is more likely to occur
[ ]	When backwash is stronger than swash deposition is more likely to occur
[ ]	Deposition occurs in neither swash nor backwash
[x]	When swash is stronger than backwash deposition is more likely to occur

When swash is stronger than backwash material is carried up the beach but not carried back down, leading to deposition

Constructive waves are most likely to occur on which sort of beach?

[x]	A flat or shallow beach
[ ]	A steep beach
[ ]	A beach with sheer cliffs and a strong wave action
[ ]	A beach that is heavily used for tourism

Constructive waves occur when the swash is stronger than the backwash. A steep beach will have a strong backwash as water runs faster down steeper slopes. Steep cliffs are normally exposed with little material to protect them

Some beaches are protected by an offshore landform known as a reef. Which of the following is not a way reefs may form?

[ ]	Sand banks build up as material is deposited away from the beach
[x]	Cliffs erode unevenly and leave behind land after arches collapse
[ ]	Coral based creatures grow at the point of optimal light growth
[ ]	Beach protection measures are artifically constructed to protect the land or provide leisure opportunities

After an arch collapses a stack is left behind. The formal definition of a reef is a ridge of rock, shingle or sand at or just below the surface of the water

What sort of shape should a constructive wave have?

[ ]	A steep crest with a short wavelength
[ ]	A high wave in proportion to its length with a tall breaker
[x]	A low wave height and a long wavelength
[ ]	A long wavelength and a steep breaker

These long low waves are created in calm weather and will deposit material on the coast