Lesson Y8-U02-L04

Y8-U02-L04 Erosional Landforms: Headlands, Caves, Arches and Stacks Quiz: KS3 Geography, Unit 8

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y8-U02-L04, Erosional Landforms: Headlands, Caves, Arches and Stacks: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 Geography (National Curriculum), Unit 8: Year 8: Coasts: A Changing Landscape, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What is a headland?

    • A curved dip in the coast where soft rock has been worn away
    • A piece of hard rock that sticks out into the sea between two bays
    • A tall pillar of rock left after an arch roof collapses
    • A bridge of rock left when the sea erodes right through

  2. What is a bay?

    • A low, worn lump of rock left at sea level, all that remains of a former headland
    • A pillar of chalk standing alone in the water, cut off from the cliffs behind
    • A curved dip in the coast where softer rock has been worn away
    • A hard point of rock that juts out into the sea, facing the full force of waves

  3. What is differential erosion?

    • Uneven wearing away of rock, where soft rock is eroded faster than hard rock
    • Rock being broken apart by ice wedged in its cracks, splitting it into fragments
    • Sand carried out to sea by the backwash, leaving the beach narrower each season
    • Equal wearing away of every rock type along a coast, so the shape stays the same

  4. What is an arch?

    • A curved bay formed where soft rock is worn back, leaving a gap in the coast
    • A bridge of rock left when the sea erodes right through a headland
    • A cave cut into the base of a cliff by the waves, hollowed out at sea level
    • A tall pillar of rock left standing after its roof collapses into the sea

  5. What is a stack?

    • A tall pillar of rock left standing when an arch roof collapses
    • A hard point of rock sticking out into the sea
    • A low, worn-down lump left at the sea's edge
    • A bridge of rock formed when waves cut through a headland

  6. What is a stump?

    • A low, worn-down lump of rock left when the base of a stack is eroded
    • A bridge of rock formed across a headland, arching over the water below
    • A cave hollowed out at the base of a cliff, cut back by the waves
    • A tall pillar of rock standing alone in the sea, cut off from the land

  7. What is the first landform the sea cuts into a headland?

    • A stump, the lowest worn lump of rock
    • A cave, formed in a weak crack
    • An arch, cut right through the headland
    • A stack, left after the roof collapses

  8. Which type of rock usually forms a headland?

    • Hard rock such as chalk or limestone
    • Loose gravel deposited by longshore drift
    • Soft rock such as clay or sand
    • Soil that has been washed in by rivers

  9. A coast has soft clay at one point and harder rock at another. Which rock is most likely to form a bay?

    • Clay
    • Granite
    • Limestone
    • Chalk

  10. What are the sea-stacks at Old Harry Rocks in Dorset?

    • Stacks left after the sea wore through a headland
    • Beaches built up by longshore drift
    • Headlands that have been formed into bays
    • Sand dunes blown inland by the prevailing wind

  11. Waves have widened a crack in a headland into a hollow in the rock. What is it called?

    • A stump
    • A cave
    • A stack
    • A bay

  12. Which landform is left when waves cut right through a headland?

    • A spit
    • An arch
    • A stump
    • A bay

  13. Why does the roof of an arch collapse?

    • Frost dries the rock out until it crumbles
    • The tide rises and lifts the roof off the arch
    • The sea erodes its base, so the heavy roof falls and leaves a stack
    • Longshore drift piles sand onto the roof until it breaks

  14. On a coast of alternating hard and soft bands, which pattern is most likely to appear?

    • Only bays, with every rock worn back equally
    • Arches formed in every bay along the coast
    • Headlands and bays side by side
    • Only headlands, with no soft rock left

  15. Which is the correct order of the cave, arch, stack and stump sequence?

    • Arch, cave, stump, stack
    • Stack, arch, cave, stump
    • Cave, stack, arch, stump
    • Cave, arch, stack, stump

  16. Old Harry Rocks and The Needles are both made of chalk. Which feature do they share?

    • A curved bay lying between two sandy headlands
    • Sand deposited by longshore drift into dunes
    • Soft clay bays cut back by the waves
    • Stacks left after the sea wore through headlands

  17. Why do waves tend to attack the weakest line in a headland first?

    • Waves can only attack rock that rises above sea level
    • Weak lines are cooler, so waves attack them first
    • The weakest rock is always the hardest, so waves attack it first
    • Cracks let hydraulic action and abrasion concentrate their force on that line

  18. Explain why a coast with bands of hard and soft rock is more dramatic than one made of a single rock type.

    • Uneven erosion carves headlands and bays, creating sharper and more varied shapes
    • All rock wears at the same rate, so the coast stays flat and unbroken along its length
    • Bands of rock stop the waves from reaching the coast, so there is little erosion
    • Soft rock protects hard rock, so the coast is smoothed out into a single even line

  19. Why must a stack eventually become a stump?

    • Longshore drift piles sand around it until it sinks
    • Frost melts the stack from the top downwards
    • Its top grows heavier with nesting birds until it topples
    • Waves keep eroding its base until it can no longer stand

  20. Suggest why two chalk coasts far apart can end up with similar stacks.

    • Both are soft rock that waves erode in exactly the same way
    • The same wind direction always forms stacks in every country
    • Both are hard chalk that resists waves and is cut by the same processes
    • Chalk only forms stacks where it lies near a river mouth

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