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S5 Geography | Coastal Landforms and Sea-Level Rise Paper 1 (Foundation)
S5 Geography | Coastal Landforms and Sea-Level Rise Paper 1 (Foundation)
Paper 1 builds the arithmetic base: deep-water wave speed and wavelength, the squared wave-energy law, longshore drift totals, sea-level rise conversion, tidal range and beach volume.
Write the formula before the numbers Allow about twenty-five minutes; write the formula and its units on paper first, and only then reach for the calculator.
01 Paper details (check answers afterwards)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Questions | 10 items |
| Suggested time | About 25 minutes |
| Difficulty mix | Foundation 4 · Intermediate 3 · Challenge 2 · Error redo 1 |
| Chapter | Chapter: S5 Geography | Coastal Landforms and Sea-Level Rise |
| Level | S5 (Secondary 5) Geography |
02 Questions (10 items)
- FoundationA deep-water wave has a period of 8 s. What are its speed and wavelength? (Use c = 1.56T and L = 1.56T².)
- FoundationWave height rises from 1 m to 3 m with everything else unchanged. By what factor does wave energy increase?
- FoundationLongshore drift moves 25,000 m³ of sand a year along a stretch of coast. How much is moved in 20 years?
- FoundationSea level rises 3.2 mm a year. How much does it rise in 50 years, in mm and in metres?
- IntermediateA beach face has a slope of 1/100 and sea level rises 0.16 m. Using the Bruun rule, how far does the shoreline retreat?
- IntermediateOn one day high tide reaches 2.4 m and low tide 0.6 m. What is the tidal range?
- IntermediateA beach is 800 m long, 30 m wide with sand averaging 2 m thick. What volume of sand is there?
- ChallengeA sea cliff retreats 0.15 m a year. How far has the cliff line retreated after 40 years?
- ChallengeWave A has a height of 1 m and a period of 6 s; wave B has a height of 2 m and the same period. How many times more energy does B carry?
- Error redoError retry: a student multiplies 3.2 mm a year by 100 years and answers 3.2 m. What is correct, and where did it go wrong?
03 Answers and one-line notes
| # | Answer | One-line note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Speed is about 12.48 m/s and wavelength about 99.84 m. | Deep-water speed depends only on period, never on wave height; longer periods travel faster and stretch further. |
| 2 | About 9 times. | Wave energy goes with the square of height, so 3² = 9: three times the height means nine times the energy. |
| 3 | 500,000 m³. | Longshore drift carries sediment steadily along the shore, so the annual volume times the number of years gives the total. |
| 4 | 160 mm, that is 0.16 m. | Divide millimetres by 1,000 for metres; totalling millimetres first and converting once avoids rounding slips. |
| 5 | It retreats 16 m (0.16 / 0.01). | The Bruun rule lifts the whole profile, so retreat equals the rise divided by the beach-face slope. |
| 6 | 1.8 m. | Tidal range is the difference between high and low water in one cycle, not their average. |
| 7 | 48,000 m³. | Beach volume is length times width times thickness, and three lengths multiplied give cubic metres. |
| 8 | 6 m. | Erosion rate times years gives cumulative retreat; cliff retreat and beach retreat follow different mechanisms. |
| 9 | 4 times. | Energy varies with the square of height, so the factor is 2² = 4; matching periods need no adjustment. |
| 10 | The rise is 320 mm, that is 0.32 m; the conversion to metres was missed. | Millimetres times years are still millimetres, so the final step must divide by 1,000 or the answer is ten times too big. |
04 What to do after marking
- After marking, redo only the wrong items and write down which step went wrong (formula, unit, or misread number).
- Repeat the same item two days later; move to the next paper only when both attempts are correct.
- Parents only need the answer and note columns; there is no need to explain every item.
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