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| the broad area or strip of land and water where various processes create characteristic coastal landscapes |
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| a narrower belt or subsection of the coast |
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| the actual contact border between land and water |
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from the highest water line to a point where the water
is about 200 ft deep (where large waves will first be acted upon
the the ocean bottom |
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| coastal zone of sediment shaped by wave action |
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undulations of water produced by wind energy being transferred
to water (wave) energy
* size determined by wind velocity, direction, duration, & fetch
(distance over which the wind blows) |
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1) height: vertical distance between crest & the trough
2) length: horizontal distance from one crest to the next
3) period: time interval between 2 successive crests passing a fixed point |
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| series of open ocean waves |
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| when the swell begins to be affected by the ocean bottom |
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| a wave whose height exceeds vertical stability and falls forward or “breaks over” |
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| a series of breaking waves |
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| the thin sheet of water that slides up the beach after a wave breaks |
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| the water from the swash that flows back toward the ocean |
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| wave bending; caused by the irregular shape of the shore compared to the incoming wave or by areas of shallow water offshore |
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generated by refracted waves; moves parallel to the coast, helping to move sand laterally down the beach (pg. 510)
create longshore drift or beach drift |
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| narrow stream-like flows which move perpindicular to the shore and thus move water and sand away from the shore |
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Definition
the cyclical rise & fall of water level on the shore due to 3 forces:
1) earth's rotation 2) gravitational pull of the moon & 3) of the sun |
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Definition
vertical difference between high tide & low tide;
* avg = 2-4 m (6 - 12 ft); one extreme --- Bay of Fundy,
Nova Scotia = about 15 m (50 ft) |
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Processes:
1) hydraulic action: work of moving water against the shore
2) corrasion: use of rock fragments in a wave to help erode the
shore; similar to abrasion in a stream or glacier
3) corrosion: chemical breakdown
4) attrition: pounding waves reduce large fragments to smaller ones |
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Definition
| the result of erosion by waves on a headland |
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| created by waves undercutting at base of a sea cliff |
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| the slightly sloped foot at base of sea cliff |
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| rock arch under which water can flow |
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| isolated columns or bits of the former headland |
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| the area that is always submerged, even at low tide, out to a depth of about 200 ft; may contain longshore bars |
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| the area exposed at low tide and covered at high tide |
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| the area from high tide line to dunes; berms (flat sandy beach area beyond daily wave action) develop here |
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| created by eolian (wind) processes, normally vegetated and relatively stable |
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| elongated extension of beach into open water in front of a bay or other inlet; formed by longshore drift |
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a sandspit which grows entirely across a bay opening
· Creates a lagoon behind it; lagoon: shallow body of water that lies etween a barrier island and the mainland and is usually oriented perpendiculat to the shore |
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Definition
| a sandspit which joins an island with the mainland; usually oriented perpendicular to the shore |
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Definition
permanent offshore or longshore bar, upwards of
20 feet asl, 1-3 miles wide, several miles long & commonly up
to 6-7 miles offshore; FIG. 16.15 & 16.16 ; material is sediment brought down by rivers off continent
EX: Cape Hatteras, Miami Beach, Atlantic City, St. Simons, Jekyll, Cumberland, Sapelo, |
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| broad indentation into a coastline; smaller than a gulf |
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those that have seemingly been uplifted, either due to sea level
falling or land being raised
EX. U.S. West Coast
* evidence of this type of coastline: sea cliffs, wave-cut platforms, sea stacks, etc. |
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Term
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Definition
those that seemingly are sinking, either by sea level rising
or the land sinking
* evidence of this type of coastline: estuaries, bays, fjords, barrier islands,
sandy beaches, etc
EX: U.S. east coast and gulf coast |
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| those created by, or composed primarily of living organisms |
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| built of coral & the marine limestone (CaCO3) deposits they create |
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| a circular coral reef with a lagoon in the middle |
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| trees in tropical areas (Florida) |
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