SEA ACTION (VPSG)


Accretion        a layer of a substance that gradually forms on a rock or area of land,
making it bigger.

Blowhole         a hole at the inland end of a sea cave through which waves funnel up and out.

Bluff                a steep cliff by the sea or by a river.

Breeze             a light wind. (gentle/light/slight x fresh/stiff/strong)

Corrasion        the eroding of a surface by pieces of rock carried by water, wind, or ice.

Crag                a very steep rough part of a cliff or mountain.

Headland        a narrow piece of land that sticks out into the sea.

Hillock             a small hill.

Lash                to hit something with a very strong force. (The waves lashed the shore.)

Longshore drift           a process in which loose stones, sand, dirt etc are moved along the coast
by the action of the waves.

Offshore bar   a long raised area of sand below the surface of the sea near the land and
parallel to it.

Onshore          1 moving towards land from the sea.    2  on land rather than on the sea.

Pounding         the sound of repeated hard hits or loud noise.

Promontory   a narrow piece of land that sticks out into the sea.

Sand bar          a raised area of sand in a river or sea that is just below the surface of the
water
or that sticks out above it.

Sea bed           the ground at the bottom of the sea.

Sea stump      a small rock left after a stack collapses or is eroded.

Shingle           small stones on a beach.

Spit                 a long narrow area of land that sticks out into the sea or a lake.

Stack              a tall steep piece of rock that rises out of the sea. It is formed as a result
of being separated from a cliff by waves eroding the rock in between.

Strait              a narrow area of water that joins two larger areas of water. (the Straits of
Gibraltar)

Swash             the water that goes onto the shore after a wave has reached its highest point and
started to fall.

Tidemark         a mark left on land by the sea that shows the highest point that the sea has
reached.

Tombolo        a narrow strip of sand or small stones that links one island to another, or to the
mainland.

Trade wind      a wind that blows continuously towards the equator (=the imaginary line
round the middle of the Earth).

Undercut         an undercut cliff has been eroded at the bottom but not at the top.

Wave-built terrace                 a narrow flat area built from loose stones, sand etc that have
been carried by waves.

Wave-cut platform                 the narrow flat area often seen at the base of a sea cliff caused
by the action of the waves.

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Breakwater     a strong wall that protects a beach from the force of the waves.

Dyke                1  a wall that prevents a river, lake, or sea from flooding the land.

2  a narrow passage in flat land that water can pass through to prevent the land from flooding.

Groyne            a wall built out into the sea to protect the beach from being destroyed
by the water.

Jetty                            a long narrow structure that goes from the land out into a lake,
sea,
or river to provide a place for boats to stop at.

Reclaim(ation)            to improve(ment)  an area of land so that it can be used.

Trawler           a boat used for fishing by pulling a large net through the water.

Wildlife           1  animals, birds, and plants that live in natural conditions.

2  a wildlife conservation organization