Coast and Beach - Observing Erosion And Deposition, Emergent Coasts, Submergent Coasts, The Sand Budget, Barrier Islands
sea region affected usually
The coast and beach, where the continents meet the sea, are dynamic environments where agents of erosion vie with processes of deposition to produce a set of features reflecting their complex interplay and the influences of changes in sea level, climate, sediment supply, etc. "Coast" usually refers to the larger region of a continent or island that is significantly affected by its proximity to the sea, whereas "beach" refers to a much smaller region, usually just the areas directly affected by wave action.
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Earth is constantly changing. Mountains are built up by tectonic forces, weathered, and eroded away. The erosional debris is deposited in the sea. In most places
The coast of Long Island, New York. Photograph by Claudia Parks. Stock Market. Reproduced by permission.
these changes occur so slowly they are barely noticeable, but at the beach, they are often observable. Most features of the beac…
If the coast rises, or sea level goes down, areas that were once covered by the sea will emerge and form part of the landscape. The erosive action of the waves will attack surfaces that previously lay safely below them. This wave attack occurs at sea level, but its effects extend beyond sea level. Waves may undercut a cliff, and eventually the cliff will fail and fall into the sea, removing materi…
Wave action moves incredible amounts of sand. As waves approach shallow water, they slow down because of friction with the bottom, then get steeper, and finally break. It is during this slowing and breaking that sand is transported. When waves reach the shore, the approach is almost straight on, so that the wave front is nearly parallel to the shore as it breaks. When a breaking wave washes up ont…
Coastal areas of the continental United States comprise only 17% of the land area of the country, but house over one-half of the population. Currently, the population of this zone is above 139 million and expected to rise to 165 million by the year 2015, a rate of growth greater than that of the country as a whole. The coast is attractive for a wide variety of reasons and economic growth of the zo…
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