Lesson Y8-U02-L03

Erosion and Longshore Drift Quiz: KS3 Geography, Unit 8

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y8-U02-L03, Erosion and Longshore Drift: 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. Which of the following is a process of coastal erosion?

    • Deposition
    • Hydraulic action
    • Precipitation
    • Longshore drift

  2. Which coastal erosion process involves water and trapped air hammering cracks?

    • Hydraulic action
    • Attrition
    • Abrasion
    • Solution

  3. Which erosion process acts like sandpaper by hurling pebbles at cliffs?

    • Solution
    • Abrasion
    • Hydraulic action
    • Attrition

  4. Which erosion process causes rock fragments to become smaller and rounder?

    • Abrasion
    • Solution
    • Attrition
    • Hydraulic action

  5. Which erosion process involves weak acids in seawater dissolving rocks such as chalk and limestone?

    • Attrition
    • Abrasion
    • Hydraulic action
    • Solution

  6. What term describes the most common wind direction for a specific coast?

    • Jet stream
    • Sea breeze
    • Trade wind
    • Prevailing wind

  7. What name is given to the zigzag movement of material along a beach?

    • Longshore drift
    • Coastal deposition
    • Tidal stream
    • Rip current

  8. What coastal defence barrier is built across a beach to trap sediment?

    • Gabion
    • Sea wall
    • Groyne
    • Breakwater

  9. A storm damages a seawall where waves squeeze air into cracks and blast them wider. Which erosion process is at work?

    • Solution
    • Attrition
    • Hydraulic action
    • Abrasion

  10. During storms, sand is flung at the base of a cliff and scrapes it away. Which erosion process is this?

    • Solution
    • Hydraulic action
    • Abrasion
    • Attrition

  11. When a groyne traps beach material, on which side does sand accumulate?

    • Up-drift side
    • Down-drift side
    • Offshore side
    • Northern side

  12. When waves hit a beach at an angle, in which direction does the swash move?

    • Straight down
    • Down diagonally
    • Straight up
    • Up diagonally

  13. What movement pattern describes the path of sediment during longshore drift?

    • Circular motion
    • Random scatter
    • Linear path
    • Zigzag pattern

  14. What typically happens to beaches located immediately down-drift of a groyne?

    • They gain extra shingle
    • They grow wider beaches
    • They lose sand
    • They flood with water

  15. What force causes the backwash to return straight down the beach slope?

    • Friction
    • Gravity
    • Coriolis effect
    • Magnetism

  16. Why do beaches further along the coast often starve of sand when groynes are built?

    • Drift is trapped
    • Rocks dissolve faster
    • Waves become smaller
    • Tides stop flowing

  17. Why is the backwash direction perpendicular to the shore while the swash is angled?

    • Wind pushes it sideways
    • Waves approach head-on
    • Gravity pulls vertically
    • Tides create strong currents

  18. Why do coastal towns often install groynes despite starving down-drift beaches?

    • Protects local beach
    • Creates more sand
    • Cheaper than seawalls
    • Stops all erosion

  19. Which coastal erosion process relies on waves hurling sand and pebbles against cliffs?

    • Attrition
    • Solution
    • Hydraulic action
    • Abrasion

  20. What happens to the beach immediately down-drift of a newly installed groyne?

    • Starved of sand
    • Becomes wider
    • Accumulates extra sand
    • Completely disappears

All KS3 Geography quizzes