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Beaches & Coasts
Lecture 2
50
Other
Not Applicable
02/05/2010

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Term
Coastal Zone
Definition
Area of land influenced by sea, or vice versa. -width varies
Term
Continental Margin
Definition
Underwater edge of a continent, includes the continental shelf, slope, & rise.
-image in powerpoint slide #3
Term
Coastal Plain
Definition
Area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a seacoast and separated from the interior by other features.
-sedimentary rocks, dip gently seaward.
Term
Continental Shelf
Definition
Shallow seaward-sloping platform that is part of the continent, extending from the shoreline to the continental rise.
-image in powerpoint slide #3
Term
Continental Slope
Definition
Relatively steeply dipping portion of the contienental margin, seaward of the continental shelf, extending to the continental rise.
-image in powerpoint slide #3
Term
Continental Rise
Definition
Wedge of sediment desposited at the base of the continental slope, mostly by sediment gravity flows.
-image in powerpoint slide #3
Term
Fall Line
Definition
Marks area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet.
Term
Landform
Definition
Recognizable feature on Earth’s surface
with definable shape, made by nature.
-ex. mountains, valleys
-all natural features
Term
Coastal Metamorphics
Definition
Mutual co-adjustment of coastal landforms and coastal processes.
Term
Delta
Definition
Low-lying area of land near a river mouth, created by deposits from the river.
Term
Estuary
Definition
Semi-enclosed coastal body of water with its salidity influenced from land.
-not much sediment
Term
Sea-cliff
Definition
Steep sided cliff - made of ROCK
-does not provide much sediment
Term
Bluff
Definition
Cliff made of UNCONSOLODATED material, erodes fairly easily.
-important source of sediment
Term
Beach
Definition
Deposit of unconsolodated sediment, ranging from boulders to sand, FORMED BY WAVE and wind processes along the coast
-extends from the base of the dunes, cliff face, or change in physiography, seaward to the low-tide line
Term
Barrier Islands
Definition
Stand alone islands of sand
-very common
-protects and parallels the mainland
-often occur in chains
Term
Gravel
Definition
Small rocks, large particle size compared to sand and mud.
Term
Sand
Definition
Tiny particles of rocks, slightly bigger than mud particles.
Term
Mud
Definition
Made of silt, clay, water, and other materials.
-smaller particles than sand
Term
Tombolo
Definition
Beach that connects land to a rocky island.
Term
Spit
Definition
Beach, attached to land at one end, ends in water at the other.
-deposited by ocean, often from sediment
-curved or hooklike in shape
Term
Pocket Beach
Definition
Beach surrounded by rocky pointson either side; protected.
Term
Bayhead Delta
Definition
Delta formed at the head of an etuary or embayment due to sediment desposition by a river entering the estuary.
Term
Baymouth Bar
Definition
A spit that completely closes access to a bay, thus sealing it off from the main body of water.
Term
Mid-Bay Barrier
Definition
????
Term
Cuspate Bar
Definition
Triangular accumulation of sand that extends from a barrier or mainland shoreline into a bay or lagoon.
-characterized by converging sand transport cells
Term
Sand Dunes
Definition
Mounds or ridges of sand that is transported and deposited by WIND, not the same as a beach.
Term
Tidal Inlets
Definition
Opening in the shoreline through which water penetrates the land, thereby providing a connection between the ocean & bays, lagoons, and marsh & tidal creak systems.
Term
Salt Marsh
Definition
Poorly drained mudflats, covered by salt grasses.
-is autogenic
-occurs in protected, quiet waters
Term
Carbonate Coasts
Definition
Made of shell material. (Calcium carbonate)
Term
Does New England have a coastal plain?
Definition
No.
Term
Why is the "fall line" an appropriate boundry for the coastal zone?
Definition
The fall line is an appropriate boundry for the coastal zone because it is where the land generally starts to fall (tilt/slope) seaward. ???
Term
Provide an example of the feedback associated with "coastal morphodynamics."
Definition
A sea-cliff fractures either by freeze/thaw or through hydraulic pressure, and eventually the rock can no longer support itself and slides into the ocean. Next, the ocean slowly carries away some of the fallen debris, and a salt marsh forms. After time, the waves then erode the salt marsh, and you are left with what you started with. ???
Term
Difference between sea-cliffs and bluffs.
Definition
Sea-cliffs erode relatively slowly and are made out of rock/consolodated material (Don't provide much sediment), and bluffs are made of unconsolodated material and provide lots of sediment.
Term
Difference between a delta and an estuary.
Definition
Deltas protrude from the coast, and estuaries are an enclosed embayment. Estuary has a salt content that is affected by freshwater.
Term
Of the common coastal environments discussed, which is the most impervious to human activities? Which is the easiest altered?
Definition
The most impervious coast to human activities would be sea-cliffs, because they're very strong and erode relatively slowly. The one easiest altered would be bluff coasts, because their material is so unconsolated, and erodes very rapidly. ???
Term
What is reasonable and what is not regarding William Morris Davidson's classification?
Definition
???
REASONABLE: In time, coasts change, and are at different stages.

NOT: Assumes all coasts have a common beginning.
Term
What is the fundamental error in Johnson's classification?
Definition
Term
Name a trailing edge, collisional, and mariginal sea coast.
Definition
Trailing edge: Maine (Or US East Coast)
Collisional: US West Coast
Marginal sea coast: Japan
Term
How do estuaries outbuild?
Definition
•1) inertial processes: must have a fresh water body, the river comes out into an ocean depositing sand grains, gets to the edge when the slop gets deeper, and begins to fall off
•2) friction: if the river is entering a salt water body in a shallow area, the sediment slows down and forms a middle-ground bar
•3) buoyancy: is fresh water coming in to a deep area, and the fresh and salt water are separated (because the area is so deep), salt water is more dense than fresh water, therefore freshwater floats on top of the salt water.
Term
Associate a great river with each of the three tectonic coastal types.
Definition
Convergent:
Divergent
Transform
Term
What distinguishes the upper and lower delta plains?
Definition
Upper: swamps, marhses, lakes
Lower: salt marshes, mangrove, swamps, tidal/mud flats
Term
Which river has the greater dissolved sediment load, the Amazon or the Yukon?
Definition
Term
Name something from the disolved, the organic and the inorganic fractions of river sediment.
Definition
Dissolved: nutrients
Organic: wood
Inorganic: rock fragments
Term
WHat is the ultimate cuase of delta switching?
Definition
Term
Name a tidal dominated delta; a wave dominated delta.
Definition
Tidal: Colorado River delta
Wave: Nile delta
Term
Describe how estuarine circulation is related to estuarine origin (What sort of circulation do estuaries of various origins have)?
Definition
Term
Why are esturies sediment traps?
Definition
Because sediment rarely gets out of them, very deep.
Term
Collision coast, features
Definition
island arc (ocean to ocaen)
rokcy, small/narrow cont shelf, large waves
land lifted out of ocean
sea cliffs
spits
Term
Trailing edge coast properties
Definition
divergent boundries
barrier islands
salt marshes
estuaries
wide cont shelf
Term
Marginal seacoast lines properties
Definition
sepereated from world sea by range of volcanic arc
wide shelf
many deltas
beaches
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