Shores and coastal

processes
 Goal
To understand how coastal processes shape
shores and coastlines and how these
processes affect people.
 Coast and shore defined
Coast: Area of contact between land and seaExtend
inland until meets a different geographical setting
Shoreline: Precise boundary where water meets
adjacent dry land

Shoreline Coast in MD, DE, & NJ

 Waves and tides
Waves: transport energy by motionultimate source
of wave energy is the sun
Longshore current: Current that parallels shoreline
developed by waves coming in at an angle to
shoreMaine sand found in NC
Beach Drift and Longshore Currents
 Waves and tides
Tides: Daily fluctuations in the height of the ocean
Caused by gravitational attraction of water to sun
and moon

High tide Low tide Tidal range: varies

depending on
latitude and the
shape of the coasts
Bay of Fundy tidal
range up to 75 ft.
Hawaii tidal range
~1.5 ft.
 Coastal erosion
Waves are dominant mechanism in coastal erosion
Water forced into cracks in rock at high pressures
 Coastal erosion
Wave energy is focused on headlands: prominent
cliffs that jut out into deep water
attack the sides of headlands and form sea caves,
sea arches, and sea stacks by undercutting them

Sea stack with sea arch in it

 Preventing coastal erosion
Can establish sand dunes and stabilize existing
dunes
Can build seawalls: concrete or riprap structures
designed to protect shoreline from waves

Riprap sea wall

Sea wall in action

 Coastal deposition
Occurs when amount of sediment exceeds
wave/current ability to transport it
Beaches: relatively narrow strips of sand, pebbles, or
cobbles deposited along a shoreline
90% of beach sediment comes from streams that
drain to coasttransported by longshore currents
 Coastal deposition
Spit and/or hook: Narrow strip of sand that grows
across the mouth of bay due to longshore current
(hooks are hook-shaped)
Cape Henlopen at mouth of Delaware Bay
 Coastal deposition
Barrier islands: Long narrow Islands made of sand
that flank main shoreline and separate bays from
open ocean
 Coastal deposition
Tombolo: Narrow strip of sediment deposited behind a
sea stack by refracted waves
 Coastal deposition
Humans often induce coastal deposition on purpose
or by accident
Use groins or breakwaters to disrupt longshore
currents or block waves and induce deposition

Breakwater

Groins
Coastal Stabilization Structures
 Types of coasts
Primary coast: Shaped by non-marine processes
(glaciations, streams, ect.)Usually a landscape
drowned by rising sea level
 Types of coasts
Secondary coast: Shaped by coastal erosion and
deposition features outlined above
Primary coasts often have secondary coastal
features

Cape Henlopen at mouth

of baySecondary

Delaware Bay
Primary
 Plate tectonics and coasts
Rifted continental margins tend to be dominated by
depositional features
Active continental margins tend to be dominated by
erosional features