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Coasts, Beaches, Barrier Islands, Estuaries, & Wetlands

Coasts, Beaches, Barrier Islands, Estuaries, & Wetlands. The Coast. A) Coast – the area where lands meets the SEA B) Includes: Cliffs Dunes Beaches Hills/Plains that form the edge of land. The Coast.

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Coasts, Beaches, Barrier Islands, Estuaries, & Wetlands

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  1. Coasts, Beaches, Barrier Islands, Estuaries, & Wetlands

  2. The Coast • A) Coast – the area where lands meets the SEA • B) Includes: • Cliffs • Dunes • Beaches • Hills/Plains that form the edge of land

  3. The Coast • C) Coastal Zone – includes open coast as well as the baysand estuaries (salt & fresh water)

  4. Types of Coasts • A) Are not static (they move, change) • B) Emergent • Rising relative to the seal level • If the sea level falls, if the coast is uplifted by tectonics, or if a decrease in weight on coastal crust occurs • I.E. – Receding Glaciers

  5. Types of Coasts • C) Submergent • Sinks relative to sea level • Newer beaches • Occurs if the sea level rises, if land is lowered by tectonics, or if weight on crust increases • I.E. – Glacier deposits, river sediment and deposits

  6. Types of Coasts • D) Two categories of coasts: • Primary Coasts • NOT altered by marine processes • Erosional – drowned river valleys • I.E. – Chesapeake / Delaware Bay • Depositional – Deltas • I.E. – Mississippi, Nile, Long Island • Volcanic • I.E. - Hawaii • Tectonic • I.E. - California

  7. Types of Coasts • Secondary Coasts • Result of ocean processes • Erosional – Regular cliffed coasts (caused by waves) • I.E. – Hawaii, S. California • Depositional – Barrier coasts, beach plains, salt marshes • I.E. – Oregon, WA Coasts (sea stacks) • Marine Organisms – coral reefs, mangrove forests, marsh grass

  8. Anatomy of a Beach • A) Beach – accumulation of sediment (sand or gravel) that occupies a portion of the coast • B) Not static, but ever changing and dynamic, because beach sediments are constantly moving seaward, landward, and along shore by near shore wave and current action.

  9. Anatomy of a Beach • C) Beach Profile • Represents a cut through a each perpendicular to the coast • Backshore - Dry region of beach (only under water at highest tides and storms) • Foreshore - Extends past low tide level 3. Offshore - Extends from shallow water seaward to low tide level

  10. Anatomy of a Beach 4. Berm - Foreshore and backshore meet (wave deposited material) 5. Berm Coast - Runs parallel to the beach 6. Scarp - Wave between berm and water level (abrupt change) 7. Cusp -Even spaced crescent shape

  11. Anatomy of a Beach 8. Low Tide Terrace -Foreshore below low tide level - flat 9. Beach Face - Upper portion between high and low tide - steeper 10. Trough & Bars - Seaward of low tide level in an offshore - Parallel to the beach - Changes seasonally

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