Lesson 3.1.3.1

3.1.3.1 Coasts as natural systems Quiz: AQA Geography, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 3.1.3.1, Coasts as natural systems: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Geography (7037), Unit 1: Physical geography, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which term describes the energy inputs to a coastal system?

    • Winds, waves, currents and tides
    • Groundwater seepage through bedrock, which moves water slowly towards the sea
    • Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, which release energy from beneath the crust near the coast
    • Snowfall and glacial meltwater, which feed rivers that enter the coastal zone

  2. In a coastal system, what is a sediment cell?

    • A cave formed by wave erosion at high tide, which is enlarged by repeated pressure of air
    • A discrete section of coastline within which sediment is moved and stored with minimal exchange with adjacent sections
    • A sand dune formed by aeolian processes only, which develops behind the beach in calm weather
    • A type of cliff produced by hydraulic action, which forms a steep face at the base of the headland

  3. Which description best matches a sediment budget for a coastline?

    • An account of sediment inputs, outputs, and stores for a stretch of coast
    • A list of coastal tourist attractions and the number of visitors who use each beach each year
    • A record of wave heights only, measured at regular intervals across the length of the bay
    • A measure of salinity in estuary water taken at several points along the river channel

  4. What is the difference between a closed and an open coastal sediment system?

    • There is no difference between the two terms in coastal geography, which use them interchangeably
    • A closed system has no waves, whereas an open system has waves that reach the shore from the sea
    • A closed system has little sediment exchange across its boundary, whereas an open system exchanges sediment with its surroundings
    • An open system has no tides, whereas a closed system has tides that move sediment along the coast

  5. Which feature defines a constructive wave in the coastal system?

    • A wave that only operates at spring tides with no movement of sediment along the shore
    • High, steep wave with a strong backwash that removes material from the beach and carries it offshore
    • Very high wave with no effect on beach material, because it breaks far out at sea
    • Low, long wave with a weak backwash and a strong swash that deposits material on the beach

  6. Which feature defines a destructive wave on a coast?

    • A small ripple formed by wind on sheltered water, which does not reach the shore at all
    • Low, gently sloping wave that builds beaches by carrying sand steadily up the shore over time
    • A wave that only deposits sand in dunes behind the beach during periods of strong onshore wind
    • High, steep wave with a strong backwash that removes material from the beach

  7. Which coastal setting is most likely to be high-energy?

    • An exposed headland facing a long fetch of open ocean
    • A lagoon behind a barrier beach, which is protected from the open sea by the barrier
    • An estuary with a low tidal range, where the water movement is restricted by the channel
    • A sheltered bay with a shallow gradient and a narrow entrance that limits wave entry

  8. Which pair of processes is most typical of marine erosion in coastal systems?

    • Hydraulic action and wave quarrying
    • Plucking and freeze-thaw weathering, which are both processes that operate in glacial settings
    • Deflation and saltation, which are wind processes that move sand across the desert surface
    • Infiltration and throughflow, which are processes that move water through the soil of the catchment

  9. Which process is an example of transportation in coastal systems?

    • Solution of limestone by seawater, which dissolves the rock at the base of the headland
    • Hydraulic action of waves against a cliff, which breaks the rock and loosens fragments
    • Longshore drift along a beach by swash and backwash at an oblique angle
    • Weathering of rock by frost action on a cliff, which breaks the rock into smaller fragments

  10. Which statement describes a low-energy coast?

    • Exposed coasts with powerful waves and rapid cliff retreat, which remove material from the shore
    • Coasts dominated by large waves from deep ocean storms that reach the shore from long distances
    • Sheltered coasts with gentle waves, where fine sediment such as mud and sand tends to accumulate
    • Coasts where tidal ranges are always the largest in the world, which move sediment rapidly

  11. What is a key difference between erosional and depositional coastal systems?

    • Erosional systems have no sediment, while depositional systems have abundant sediment from the land
    • There is no difference, because all coasts both erode and deposit material at exactly the same rate
    • Erosional systems remove material faster than it is supplied, while depositional systems accumulate material
    • Depositional systems are always rocky, while erosional systems are always made up of sandy beaches

  12. Which factor is the main control on the energy of waves reaching a coast?

    • Colour of the coastal rocks, which absorbs or reflects the light of the sun on the water
    • The distance to the nearest road from the beach, which influences how far waves can travel
    • Wind speed, duration and fetch over which the wind blows
    • The number of houses behind the shore, which affects the amount of wave energy that reaches it

  13. Which contrast between constructive and destructive waves best explains beach profile changes?

    • Destructive waves build beaches more effectively than constructive waves do over the same period
    • Constructive waves produce a steep beach, while destructive waves produce a wide beach with gentle slopes
    • Constructive waves build a wide, gently sloping beach, while destructive waves produce a steep, narrower beach
    • Both wave types produce identical beach profiles, because the beach is shaped only by the tide

  14. Why do tides matter in coastal systems?

    • They change the level at which waves act, shifting the zone of erosion and deposition along the shore
    • They only affect rivers far inland from the coast, which are reached by the high tide
    • They have no effect on the position of wave action, which is controlled only by the wind
    • They prevent sediment from ever moving along the coast, so that the shore remains static

  15. A coastal area receives strong waves in winter and weak waves in summer. Which seasonal effect is most likely?

    • Winter erosion removes beach sediment, and summer swell rebuilds it
    • Seasonal waves have no effect on beach sediment, which stays the same throughout the year
    • Winter waves build the beach and summer waves remove it, reversing the seasonal pattern
    • Summer waves erode cliffs more quickly than winter waves, because the rock is drier in summer

  16. Which process is important for sediment supply to beaches at many coasts?

    • Uplift of coastal rock by plate tectonics alone, which raises the beach above the sea
    • Evaporation of seawater that leaves salt on the shore, which adds sediment to the beach
    • Erosion of cliffs and transport of their debris by waves and currents
    • Deposition of glacial till from retreating ice sheets, which is delivered to the shore by meltwater

  17. Which factor most influences whether a beach is accreting or eroding?

    • The number of visitors each day, which controls the amount of sand carried away by walkers
    • The balance between sediment supply and wave energy at the beach
    • The colour of the sand, which determines whether the waves can move it along the shore
    • The distance from the nearest city, which controls the rate of wave action on the beach

  18. What is the name for the zone of the shore between the highest and lowest tide marks?

    • The supratidal zone, which lies above the highest tide mark on the land
    • The intertidal zone
    • The offshore zone, which lies beyond the reach of the lowest tide in the open sea
    • The swash zone, which is only the area of water movement up the beach face

  19. Which coastal feature is formed by waves depositing sand and shingle to build a ridge across a bay?

    • A stack, which is an isolated pillar of rock left behind by the erosion of an arch
    • A barrier beach
    • A wave-cut platform, which is a rock surface cut at the foot of a cliff by wave erosion
    • A cave, which is a hollow formed in a cliff by wave erosion along a joint

  20. Which process moves sediment along a coast in a zigzag pattern?

    • Cavitation, which uses collapsing bubbles to shock the rock surface
    • Longshore drift
    • Hydraulic action, which uses compressed air to break rock in joints in the cliff
    • Solution, which dissolves soluble minerals in seawater at the base of the cliff

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