Define Coast.

Define Shore.

a fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water , such as oceans, seas, or lakes.

Littoral Zone

from the highest water line to a point where the water is about 200 ft deep

Define Beach.

coastal zone of sediment shaped by wave action

Define Waves

a disturbance on the surface of a liquid body, as the sea or the lake in the form of a moving ridge or swell.

How is the size of a wave determined?

size determined by wind velocity, direction, duration, & fetch (distance over which the wind blows)

Identify and explain the wave components.

* wave components:

1) height: vertical distance between the crest & the trough

2) length: horizontal distance from one crest to the next

3) period: time interval between 2 successive crests passing a fixed point

* swells: a formation of long wavelength ocean surfaces.

Define Wave of Translation

 a phenomenon in which the nonlinear and dispersive components of wave motion cancel each other, allowing a single pulse of a wave to travel an unusually long distance without losing its form or much amplitude.

What is a Breaker?

a wall of moving, turbulent surf.

Identify the agents that work on coastal components.

Waves, currents, and tides

Identify the coastal components.

Define Wave Refraction

wave bending; caused by the irregular shape of the shore compared to the incoming wave 

Identify the four types of breakers.

spilling, plunging, surging, collapsing

Define Surf.

a series of breaking waves

Define swash.

the thin sheet of water that slides up the beach after a wave breaks.

What is backwash?

the water from the swash that flows back toward the ocean 

Name the two types of currents.

Long shore currents, rip currents

Longshore Currents

generated by refracted waves; moves parallel to the coast, helping to move sand 

Define Longshore Drift

Created by Longshore Current; the transport of sand along the beach.

Define Rip Current

narrow, stream-like flows of water moving perpendicular to and away from the shore.

How will the sand move when it is in a longshore current?

by suspension and saltation

Which way does a longshore current move in relation to the coast?

Parallel

Which way does a rip current move in relation to the coast?

Perpendicular

In which direction does a rip current move in relation to the coast?

Perpendicular

What is a tide?

the cyclical rise and fall of water level on the shore due to the Earth's rotation, gravitational pull of the moon, and gravitational pull of the sun.

What are the processes of degradational land forms?

Hydrolic action, corrasion, corrosion, attrition

What is Hydraulic Action?

work of moving water against the shore; erosional process

Define Corrasion

the use of rock fragments in a wave to help erode the shore; erosional process

Define Corrosion

chemical breakdown; erosional process

What is attrition?

Pounding waves reduce large fragments to smaller ones; erosional process

How do landslides affect coastal processes?

causes erosion

What is a sea cliff?

steep coastal cliff-like ridge; the result of erosion by waves on a headland (resistant rock coastline); erosional landform

Define Sea Cave

created by waves undercutting at the base of a sea cliff; erosional landform

What is a wave-cut platform?

the slightly sloped foot at base of sea cliff; erosional landform. 

What are sea arches?

rock arch under which water can flow; erosional landform

What are sea stacks?

isolated columns or bits of the former headland; erosional landform

Explain offshore.

area that is always submerged, even at low tide, out to a depth of  about 200 ft; longshore bars may develop in this area; also longshore currents' depositional area.

What is a fore shore?

area exposed at low tide and covered at high tide; where the most erosion can be seen; depositional area

What is a back shore?

from high tide line to dune line; results in flat sandy beach beyond daily wave action; depositional area.

What is berm?

flat sandy beach beyond daily wave action

What are Coastal Dunes?

created by eolian processes (wind action), with berm sand the primary supply source; depositional landform.

What is sandspit?

elongated extension of beach into open water in front of a bay or other inlet; formed by a longshore drift; depositional landform

What are Baymouth Bars?

a spit which grows all the way across a bay opening; depositional landform

What is a tombolo?

a deposition of sand, which joins an island or rock outcropping with the mainland and is usually oriented perpendicular to the shore; depositional landform

What are barrier islands?

permanent offshore or longshore bar; protects the mainlands.

Give examples of barrier islands.

Cape Hatteras, Miami Beach, Atlantic City, Chandelier Islands in Mississippi, and in Georgia:  Cumberland, Sapelo, Jeckyll, St. Simon's Islands; depositional landforms

What is a bay?

broad indentation into a coastline; larger than a cove but smaller than a gulf

What is a cove?

small indentation in a coastline

What is a lagoon?

shallow body of water that lies between a barrier island, or a baymouth bar and the mainland; the water body of an atoll is also called a lagoon 

What is the difference between emergent and submergent coastlines?

Emergent coastlines appear to be "uplifted", either due to the sea level falling, or land being raised.

Submergent coastlines seem to be sinking, either by sea level rising (melting glaciers) or the land sinking.

Give an example of an emergent coastline.

West coast of the United States.

Give an example of a submergent coastline.

East coast of the United States.

What is a living shoreline?

those created by, or composed primarily of living organisms

What is a coral reef?

built of coral & the marine limestone deposits they create; type of a living shoreline.

What is an atoll?

a circular coral reef with a lagoon in the middle; type of living shoreline.

What is a Mangrove Swamp?

wetland ecosystem composed of mangrove plants and found along many tropical coastlines; type of living shoreline.

What is a salt-marsh?

Wetland ecosystem composed of halophytic (salt-tolerant) plants and found along many mid-latitude coastlines; type of living coastline.

Define shoreline.

dynamic systems involving the energy of waves and currents.

What is a beach?

a shore built of unconsolidated sediment.

What is a headland?

resistant rock coastline