PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

10E
Chapter 20: Coastal Processes and Landforms
COASTAL PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS
Large percentage of world’s population lives
near the coast
THE COASTAL ZONE
 Shoreline
 Sea Level
Average position of
shoreline
 Coastal zone
 Nearshore zone
 Breaker zone
 Surf zone
 Swash zone (backwash)
 Offshore zone
ORIGIN AND NATURE OF WAVES
 Waves
Wave crests
Wave troughs
Wave height
Wavelength
Wave steepness
Wave period
 Tides
 Tsunamis
 Wind waves
ORIGIN AND NATURE OF WAVES
 Tides
Gravitational pull of
the moon and sun
is the force that
causes tides
Moon has a
stronger pull
Centrifugal force
Tidal range
 Difference in sea
level between high
and low tide
ORIGIN AND NATURE OF WAVES
 Springtide
 Neap tide

How many spring

tides and neap
tides occur each
month?
ORIGIN AND NATURE OF WAVES
 Tides
Semidiurnal
tide
Diurnal tide
Mixed tide

What is the tidal

pattern on the
coastal area
nearest where
you live?
ORIGIN AND NATURE OF WAVES
 Tidal range varies due to:
 Shape of coastline
 Water depth
 Access to open ocean
 Submarine topography
 Why does the Bay of Fundy have such a great tidal range?
ORIGIN AND NATURE OF WAVES
 Tsunamis
Long-wavelength
waves that form
when a large mass of
water displaced
upward or downward
 Earthquakes
 Volcanic eruptions

 Landslide

2004 Indonesia
2011 Tohoku, Japan
ORIGIN AND NATURE OF WAVES
 Tsunamiforecasts
and warnings
ORIGIN AND NATURE OF WAVES
 Wind waves
Most waves on surface of standing body of
water created by wind
Frictional drag and pressures cause
irregularities in the water surface
Waves can travel thousands of miles
Three factors determine height of wind waves
 Wind velocity
 Duration of wind

 Fetch
ORIGIN AND NATURE OF WAVES
 Deep-water waves
 Wave base
ORIGIN AND NATURE OF WAVES
ORIGIN AND NATURE OF WAVES
 In deep water
relative to
wavelength, waves
do not disturb
bottom and lose
little energy
 Shallow water,
waves increase
height
 Rip currents
 Relatively narrow
zones of strong,
offshore-flowing Why are these currents a
water hazard to swimmers?
COASTAL GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
 Wave refraction
and littoral drifting
Wave refraction =
bending of a wave
in map view as it
approaches a
shoreline

How will this

coastline change
over a long period?
COASTAL GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
 Wave refraction

What happens to sediment eroded from the

headlands?
COASTAL GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
 Not all waves refract
completely before
they break
 Littoral drifting

 Incomplete wave
refraction leads to
sediment transport
along the coast by
beach drifting and
longshore drifting.
Incomplete wave
refractions.
COASTAL GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
 Beach drifting
 Longshore current

 Longshore drifting

Why is the backwash

perpendicular to the trend
of the shoreline when the
swash is at an angle to it?
COASTAL GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
 Coastal erosion
Corrosion
Hydraulic action
Abrasion

 Coastal
erosional
landforms
Coasts of high relief
are dominated by
erosion
Sea cliffs (or lake cliffs)
COASTAL GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
 Coastal
erosional
landforms
Notch
Cobble beach
Sea arches
COASTAL GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
 Coastal
erosional
landforms
Sea stack
Abrasion platform
Marine terraces

What other coastal erosional

landforms do you see in
photo (b)?
COASTAL GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
 Coastal deposition
Sediments accumulate where wave energy is
low
Three principal sources of coastal sediment
Streams

Delta

Estuary

Coastal cliff erosion

Offshore sources
COASTAL GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
 Coastal deposition
Beach
 Most common form
 Wave-deposited

feature
 Sandy beach

 Boulder beach

 White sand beach

COASTAL GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
 Coastal deposition
Middle latitudes beaches are generally narrower,
steeper, and composed of coarser material in
winter compared to summer
Longshore bar

What attribute of
waves represents
the amount of
energy they
have?
COASTAL GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
 Coastal deposition
Spits
Tombolo
COASTAL GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
 Coastal deposition
 Barrier beaches
 Lagoons
 Baymouth barrier
 Barrier islands
 Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
 Cape Hatteras, NC

 Fire Island, NY
 Padre Island, TX

What feature separates

a barrier island from the
mainland?
COASTAL GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
 Barrier
island
formation
Rising sea level since
the Pleistocene
Change drastically
with severe storms

How can this type of

damage be prevented in the
future?
COASTAL GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
 Coastal deposition
Beach systems
Equilibrium when
input and output of
sediment are equal
Groin

How do you think the stretch

of coast beyond the last groin
would be impacted by these
structures?
TYPES OF COASTS
 Coastalclassification is
based on plate
tectonics at global scale
Passive-margin
 Low relief and broad
coastal plain
 Wide continental shelves

 East Coast of U.S.

Active-margin
TYPES OF COASTS
 Coastal classification
Active-margin
 High relief and narrow
coastal plain
 West Coast of U.S.
TYPES OF COASTS
 Coastal classification
Regional scale
Coastlines of
emergence
Water level has

fallen or the land has

risen
Best developed

along active-margin
coasts (e.g. west
coast of U.S)
TYPES OF COASTS
 Coastal classification
Regional scale
Coastlines of
submergence
Two types of
submerged coastlines
Rias coasts

Fjord coasts
TYPES OF COASTS
 Fjord coasts
Highly irregular
Deep, steep sided arms
Locations: Norway,
Alaska, Greenland and
Canada
TYPES OF COASTS
 Primary coastlines
Drowned river valleys
 Delaware and
Chesapeake Bay
Glacial erosion
 Southeastern Alaska
Glacial deposition
 Cape cod, MA
 North shore of Long

Island, NY How has wave action

River deltas, volcanic modified that moraine
coasts, and faulted that originally formed
coasts Cape Cod?
TYPES OF COASTS
 Secondary coastlines
Formed mainly by
coastal geomorphic
agents, especially waves
and aquatic organisms
 Oregon
 Barrier beaches of North

Carolina
 Coral reefs of Florida Keys
ISLANDS AND CORAL REEFS
 Three basic ocean types of islands
Continental islands
 Geologically part of continent
 Examples: Greenland, Great Britain, New Guinea,

and Borneo
Oceanic islands
 Volcanoes
Atolls
ISLANDS AND CORAL REEFS
 Oceanic islands
Volcanoes that rise
from deep ocean floor
Along trenches:
Aleutians, Tonga,
Marianas
Along mid-ocean ridges:
Iceland, Azores
Along chains: Hawaiian
islands
ISLANDS AND CORAL REEFS
 Atolls
Island consisting of a
ring of coral reefs
Grown up from a
subsiding volcanic
island
Types of Reef
 Fringing reef
 Barrier reef
ISLANDS AND CORAL REEFS
 Coral reefs
Shallow, wave-resistant
structures
Remains of tiny sea
animals (skeleton of
calcium carbonate)
ISLANDS AND CORAL REEFS
Darwin’s coral reef development