Long Ree/Dee Why Field Work Map

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Cortes Bank

Cortes Bank:

Cortes Bank

Cortes Bank is a dangerously shallow chain of underwater mountains in the Pacific Ocean. It is located about 188 kilometers west of Point Loma San Diego, USA, and about 82 kilometers south-west of San Clemente Island. It is in the middle of the ocean. Cortes Bank was originally a California channel island 10,000 years ago but when the Ice Age came, it lowered the sea level by 400 feet. The end result was Cortes Bank.

There is a model of the underground mountain at Cortes Bank:

Here is a bird's eye view of Cortes Bank:

This spot is capable of producing some amazing waves due to its location. Cortes Bank reaches a peak of about 30 kilometers long and rises from the ocean floor from about 1kilometer down. Some of the peaks come to just 1-2 meters below the surface at Bishop Rock, depending on the tides. The peaks are a hazard to large ships. Because it is located so far off the coast, there is really no limit to the amount of swell that can pass by this spot.The waves at Cortes Bank signal danger on the underwater rocks and are so big they show up on radar.
The location of Cortes Bank is shown below:

Bishop Rock, which is one of the jagged peaks in the underwater chain, rises to within 1 to 2 meters of the surface. This place has been known to ocean-going ship captains and fishermen for years.

Here is an example of how big the waves at Cortes Bank get:

To get the biggest waves at Cortes Bank, you need perfect conditions. Cortes Bank requires light winds, low tides and big storm swells from the northwest in order to reach its full potential. This surf spot is also a place where rough sea storms take place.

These need to happen all at the same time. This happened on 19th January 2001, where California's surfers went to test their skills against the biggest wave every ridden. These waves were traveling so fast that the surfers couldn't catch up to the wave paddling, instead they had to get there by a jet skier who towed them with a rope until they were moving fast enough to engage the wave. Surfers measure the waves from the back and the biggest wave of the day was 30 feet according to their measurements. A watcher on the other side, said he saw waves up to sixty feet tall.


This link to a video explains Cortes Bank in more detail:
http://www.surfline.com/surflinetv/how-it-works/how-it-works-cortes-bank_22567

Y9 Geography: Coastal Management Vocabulary

Here are the vocab words for this unit. They are divided up into 4 groups. You will have 4 quizzes for this unit - 1 for each group. They will happen every 3 classes starting next week. Knowing key terms will be essential for your success on the assessment at the end of this unit.

Quiz #1
7.1
breakwaters
silting -
tidal flushing -
sea change
urban stormwater
silting
tidal flushing
dredging
introduced plants


7.2
ground swell -
plunging waves -
spilling waves -
surging waves -
wind swell -
wave height
wavelength
fetch
surf and swash zone



Quiz #2
7.3
aeolian -
spinifex -
constructive waves
corrasion
corrosion
refraction
deposition
destructive waves
erosion
hydraulic action
longshore drift

Quiz #3
7.4
erosion-accretion cycle
groynes -
revegetation -
sea walls -

7.5
rock wall
beach nourishment
sand bar

7.7
environmental impact study -
impact assessment -

Quiz #4
7.8
bitou bush -
marram grass -  
noxious weed -  
foredune

hind dune
tertiary species
fore dune
off-shore bar
incipient dune
beach berm
secondary species

7.9
anemometer -
hygrometer -

Year 10: 7.3 Geographical Processes Shaping the Coastal Environment

Answers for all these questions/activities should be placed in a blog post with the same title of this post.

1. For the first image use Google maps to find a beach that is of similar shape. Capture it and label the picture with the information in the diagram 7.7.

2. Find pictures for each of these coastal features in the next TWO pictures (do at least 10) (7.13 + 7.9). Copy them to your blog post and label them. (you don't have to do 'beach'). Post to blog.

3. Find a picture of a Headland with a Wave-Cut Platform and label it with the information in 7.8. Post to blog.

4. Find a beach (any beach will work) and use all the labels from the longshore drift diagram below to annotate it. Post to blog.

Year 10: 7.2 Waves - Water on the Move

Save these images to your computer.

Annotate them filling in the yellow boxes with the appropriate info.

Upload the annotated images to your blog and create a new post.