Chapter 10: Beaches,

Shoreline Processes and the

Coastal Ocean
Defining Coastal Regions
• General Features
• Shore—the zone that lies between the low tide line and the highest area on land affected
by storm waves
• Coast—extends inland as far as ocean related features are found
• Coastline—boundary between shore and coast
• Backshore—part of shore above high tide shoreline
• Foreshore—part of shore exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide
• Shoreline—water’s edge that migrates with the tide
• Nearshore—extends seaward from low tide shoreline to low tide breaker line
• Offshore—zone beyond low tide breakers
• Beach—wave-worked sediment deposit of the shore area
• Area of beach above shoreline often called the recreational beach
• Wave-cut bench—flat, wave-eroded surface
Defining Coastal Regions
• Nearshore—extends seaward from low tide shoreline to low tide breaker line
• Offshore—zone beyond low tide breakers
• Beach—wave-worked sediment deposit of the shore area
• Area of beach above shoreline often called the recreational beach
• Wave-cut bench—flat, wave-eroded surface
• Berm—dry, gently sloping, elevated beach margin at the foot of coastal cliffs or sand
dunes
• Beach face—wet, sloping surface extending from berm to shoreline
• Also called low tide terrace
• Longshore bars—sand bars parallel to coast
• May not always be present
• Can cause approaching waves to break
• Longshore trough—separates longshore bar from beach face
Cliffed Coastal Region
Typical Beach
Composition of Beaches
• Formed from locally available material
• May be coarse-or-fine-grained sediment
• Boulders from local cliffs
• Sand from rivers
• Mud from rivers
• Significant biologic material on tropical beaches
• Material is always in transit along the shoreline.
Sand Movement Along Beach
• Perpendicular to shoreline (toward and away)
• Swash—water rushes up the beach
• Backwash—water drains back to the ocean
• Parallel to shoreline (up-coast or down-coast)
• Longshore current—transports sand along the beach
• Light wave activity
• Less energetic waves
• Reduced backwash
• Movement of sand up the beach creates a wide berm.
• Heavy wave activity
• High-energy waves
• Backwash dominates
• Sand accumulates offshore just beyond breaking waves.
Summertime Beach

• Light wave activity

• Wide, sandy berm
• Steep beach face
• Swash dominates
• Longshore bars not
present
• Generally milder storms
Wintertime Beach
• Heavy wave activity
• Backwash dominates
• Sediment moved away
from shore
• Narrower beach
• Flattened beach face
• Longshore bars are present.
• Stormy weather
Light v s Heavy Wave Activity
ersu

Table 10.1 Characteristics of beaches affected by light and heavy wave activity
Blank Light wave activity Heavy wave activity
(small waves) (large waves)
Berm/longshore bars Berm is built at the expense of Longshore bars are built at the
the longshore bars expense of the berm

Wave energy Low wave energy (non-storm High wave energy (storm
conditions) conditions)
Time span Long time span (weeks or Short time span (hours or days)
months)
Characteristics Creates summertime beach: Creates wintertime beach: rocky,
sandy, wide berm, steep beach narrow berm, flattened beach
face Face
Movement Parallel to the Shoreline

• Longshore current—zigzag
movement of water along
shore
• Refracting waves in surf zone
• Longshore currents travel at
speeds up to 4 k m (2.5 miles)
ilo eters

per hour
Movement Parallel to the Shoreline
• Longshore Drift
• Also called longshore
transport, beach drift, or
littoral drift
• Transports beach sediment in a
zigzag fashion in the direction
of the longshore current
• Occurs in surf zone
Longshore Drift

• Millions of tons of sediment moved yearly

• Direction of transport changes due to wave approach
• Net sediment movement is southward along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the
United States.
Longshore Current and Longshore Transport along U.S. Coasts
 Erosional Shores

• Well-developed cliffs
• Exist where tectonic uplift of coast
occurs
Two Major • U.S. Pacific coast is one example.
Types of
Shores Depositional Shores

• Gradually subsiding shore

• Barrier islands and sand deposits are
common.
Erosional Shores
• Protruding bits of land called headlands
absorb much wave energy.
• Wave-cut cliffs and sea caves are other
features carved out by wave activity.
• Sea arches form where sea caves in headlands
erode all the way through.
• Sea stacks form when the tops of sea arches
erode away completely.
 • Uplift of wave-cut bench generates a marine
terrace.
Erosional • Wave erosion increases with:
Shorelines • More shore exposed to open ocean
• Smaller tidal range
• Weaker bedrock
Erosional Shorelines
Depositional Shorelines

• Coastal erosion produces large amounts

of sediment, which forms shoreline
features.
• Bay barrier, or bay mouth bar
• Seals off a lagoon from the ocean
• Spit
• Connects at one end to the
mainland and hooks into a bay at
the other
Depositional
Shorelines

• Tombolo
• Sand bar that connects an island to
the mainland
• Barrier islands
• Long offshore sand deposits that
parallel the coast
Depositional Coast Features
Barrier Islands

• Extremely long offshore deposits of sand

parallel to coast
• Do not exist along erosional shorelines
• Protect mainland from high wave activity
• Appear to have developed at end of last
ice age 18,000 years ago
Barrier Islands

• Separated from mainland by lagoon

• Attractive building sites because of
proximity to ocean
• Many structures destroyed by ocean or
required relocation
Heavily Developed
Barrier Island off the
Coast of Mainland
Toms River, N J
Barrier Islands

• More than 2000 barrier islands identified

worldwide
• Almost 300 along Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the
United States
 • Ocean Beach—closest part of the island to the
ocean
• Dune—stabilized by grasses; protect lagoon
from strong storms

Barrier Island • Barrier flat—grassy area that forms behind

dunes

Features • Salt marshes—inland of barrier flat

• Low marsh extends from mean sea level
to high neap-tide line.
• High marsh extends to highest spring tide
line.
• Lagoon between barrier island and mainland
Barrier • Migrate landward over time due to rising sea
levels

Islands • Older peat deposits found on ocean beach

Barrier Island
Migration
Deltas

• Triangular deposits of sediment where

rivers empty into oceans or seas
• Distributaries—branching channels
carry sediment to ocean
Deltas

• Delta shoreline is smoothed when

erosion exceeds deposition.
• Nile River Delta currently eroding
 • Three major components

Beach • Rivers that supply beach sediment

• Beach itself

Compartments • Offshore submarine canyons

• Beach starvation—human activities block
supply of sand to beach compartments
Beach
Components
 • Sea level has changed throughout time.

Changing Sea • Level of land changes

• Sea level changes

Level • Combination of the two

• Continental shelf intermittently exposed and
submerged
 • Emerging shorelines
• Shorelines above current sea level
Changing Sea • Marine terraces—flat platforms backed by
cliffs
Level • Stranded beach deposits
• Indication that former shoreline has risen
above sea level
 • Submerging shorelines

Changing Sea • Shoreline below current sea level

• Features include:

Level • Drowned beaches

• Submerged dune topography
• Drowned river valleys
Emerging
and
Submerging
Shorelines
Changing Sea Level
• Two major processes can change sea level
• Local tectonic processes raise or lower Earth’s crust.
• Worldwide changes in sea level
• Tectonic Movements
• Include crustal uplift or subsidence and localized
folding, faulting, and tilting
• Example: The Pacific coast of the United States is
currently being uplifted.
• Isostatic adjustment
• Rebound of Earth’s crust after removal of heavy
loads or sinking with application of heavy loads
• Ice loading from glaciers during ice ages
 • Eustatic sea level changes—worldwide

Changing Sea
• Can be caused by:
• Formation or destruction of inland lakes
• Sea floor spreading rate changes
Level • Formation or melting of glaciers
• Thermal expansion or contraction of
seawater
Pleistocene Epoch
and Today
• From about 2.6 million to 10,000
years ago, a series of four ice ages
affected Earth.
• Collectively called the “Ice Age”
• Sea level was at least 120 meters
(400 feet) below today’s sea level.
• If all remaining ice on Earth melted
today, sea level would rise another
70 meters (230 feet).
Hard Stabilization

• Structures built to decrease coastal erosion and

interfere with sand movement
• Also called armoring of the shore
• Often results in unwanted outcomes
• Some structures may increase wave erosion.
 • Four major types of stabilization structures
Hard • Groins and groin fields
• Jetties
Stabilization • Breakwaters
• Seawalls
Groins and Groin Fields

• Built perpendicular to the beach

• Often made of rip rap, or large blocky
material
• Traps sand upcoast, which can cause erosion
downstream of the longshore current
• Upcoast trapping of sand may necessitate a
groin field, or a series of groins built along a
beach.
• Sand is distributed differently, but no additional
sand is on the beach.
Jetties

• Similar to groin
• Built perpendicular to shore
• Built in pairs
• Built to protect harbor entrances
 Effect of
Jetties and
Groins
Breakwaters

• Built parallel to a shoreline

• Designed to protect harbors from waves
• Can cause excessive erosion, requiring dredging
to keep area stable
Breakwater at
Santa Barbara
Harbor, C A
Breakwater at Santa Monica, CA
• Between 1931 and 1949, breakwater disrupted
longshore transport of sand.
Seawalls

• Destructive to environment
• Designed to armor coastline and
protect human developments
• One large storm can remove beach
• Wave activity eventually
undermines seawall structure; need
continual repair or will collapse
Seawall
Damage
Alternatives to Hard Stabilization
• Three major alternatives
• Construction restrictions
• Beach replenishment
• Relocation

• Construction restrictions
• Simplest alternative
• Limit building near shorelines
• Paradoxically, National Flood Insurance Program encouraged construction.
Alternatives to Hard Stabilization
• Beach replenishment
• Sand added to
beach/longshore current
• Expensive; costs between
$5 and $10 per cubic yard
• Sand must be dredged
from elsewhere.
Alternatives • Relocation

to Hard
• Move structures rather than protect them
in areas of erosion
• Can allow humans to live in natural

Stabilization balance with beach processes

Characteristics of Coastal
Waters

• Coastal waters—just offshore of beaches

• Characteristics include:
• Salinity
• Temperature
• Coastal geostrophic currents
Characteristics of Coastal
Waters

• Salinity—freshwater runoff does not mix well

with coastal seawater
• Halocline—represents salinity variations with
depth in water column
• Isohaline—uniform salinity from surface to
deeper layers
 Salinity
Variation in
the Coastal
Ocean
Characteristics • Temperature—coastal region surface water
has restricted mixing

of Coastal • Isothermal—water temperature is uniform

throughout water column

Waters • Thermocline—represents temperature

variations with depth
Temperature
Variations in
the Coastal
Ocean
 • Coastal Geostrophic Currents
Characteristics • Move in circular path
• Generated in coastal areas by wind and
of Coastal runoff
• Wedge of freshwater runoff on coast
Waters generates surface flow towards open ocean.
• Coriolis effect deflects flow.
Characteristics • Coastal Geostrophic Currents

of Coastal
• Northern Hemisphere—path curves northward
on western coasts and southward on eastern
coasts
Waters • Opposite in Southern Hemisphere
Characteristics of Coastal
Waters

• Davidson Current—coast of Washington

and Oregon
• More strongly developed during
rainy season
Estuaries
• Origin of estuaries—sea level rise after glacier retreat began 18,000 years ago
• Four types of estuaries based on geologic origin
• Coastal plain estuary—forms as sea level rises and floods existing river valleys
• Chesapeake Bay
• Fjord—forms as sea level rises and floods existing glaciated valleys
• Coasts of Alaska, Canada, New Zealand, Chile, and Norway
• Bar-built estuary—shallow and separated from open ocean by sand bars deposited
parallel to coast by wave action
• U.S. Gulf coast and East Coast
• Tectonic estuary—forms when folding or faulting rocks generates downdropped area
• San Francisco Bay
Estuaries
Classified by
Geologic
Setting
 • Vertically mixed estuary—shallow, low-
volume; net flow from head to mouth of
estuary

Water Mixing • Slightly stratified estuary—salinity increases

from head to mouth at all depths; two distinct
layers
in Estuaries • Highly stratified estuary—deep with upper-
layer salinity increasing from head to mouth
• Salt wedge estuary—wedge of salty water
from ocean moves in under river water
 Classifying
Estuaries by
Mixing
Estuaries and Human
Activities
• Most threatened where human populations are
large
• Estuaries are important breeding grounds and
nurseries for many marine animals.
• Human activities can damage estuarine
environments.
• Columbia River Estuary
• Principal conduit for logging industry
• More than 250 dams constructed
• Increased sediment load
• Dredging of sediment carries increased
pollution risk
Estuaries and Human
Activities

• Chesapeake Bay
• Slightly stratified estuary
• Large seasonal changes in salinity,
temperature, and dissolved oxygen
• Maximum freshwater river flow in spring
Estuaries and Human
Activities
• Chesapeake Bay
• Waters may become anoxic from
May through August
• Major kills of commercially
important blue crabs, oysters, and
other bottom-dwelling organisms
• Increased nutrients from sewage
and agriculture causing algal
blooms and environmental issues
Lagoons

• Protected, shallow water bodies

landward of barrier islands
• Restricted circulation with ocean
• Three distinct zones
• Freshwater zone near head
• Transitional zone in middle
• Saltwater zone near mouth
Lagoons

• Laguna Madre—along Texas coast

• Hypersaline
• Large seasonal temperature and salinity
variations
• Ocean water flows in wedge over denser
lagoon water
 • Large semi-isolated bodies of water

Marginal • Result from tectonic events that isolated

ocean crust between continents or created

Seas
behind volcanic island arcs
• Mediterranean Sea
• Caribbean Sea
 • Remnant of ancient Tethys Sea
• Shallow and narrow connection to Atlantic
Ocean and Black Sea
Mediterranean • Strait of Gibraltar
• Bosporus
Sea • Underwater sill separates Mediterranean into
two major basins
• Sill restricts flow, resulting in strong
currents
Mediterranean Sea
 • Mediterranean Circulation
• Unique pattern caused by Middle East heat
• Large surface inflow from Atlantic Ocean to replace
evaporated surface water flows along north African
coast, spreads

Mediterranean
• Remaining Atlantic water flows eastward to Cyprus.
• Water sinks and becomes Mediterranean
Intermediate Water.

Sea • Temperature of 15°Celsius (59°Fahrenheit) and

salinity of 39.1 p p t
• Flows westward at depth of 200 to 600 meters
(660 to 2000 feet)
• Temperature drops as it reaches Gibraltar.
• Mediterranean Circulation is opposite that of most
estuaries.
Mediterranean Circulation
 • Wetlands—ecosystems with water table close

Issues Facing
to surface
• Generally saturated
• Can be freshwater or coastal
Coastal • Coastal wetlands occur along margins of costal
waters, including estuaries, lagoons, and
Wetlands marginal seas
• Include swamps, tidal flats, coastal
marshes, and bayous
Types of Coastal
Wetlands

• Salt marshes
• Between 30 and 65 degrees latitude
• Support salt-tolerant grasses and
other halophytic low-lying plants
• Along many coasts
Types of Coastal
Wetlands

• Mangroves
• Tropics below 30 degrees latitude
• Salt-tolerant mangrove trees,
shrubs, and palms
• Tall tripod-like root systems
• Caribbean, Florida, and Southeast
Asia
Distribution
of Salt
Marshes and
Mangroves
Characteristics of
Coastal Wetlands

• Home to diverse plants and animals

• Highly productive ecosystems
• Nurseries for more than half of
commercially important fish species in
southeastern United States
Characteristics
• Soak up nutrients that run off farmlands
• Remove inorganic nitrogen compounds and
metals from environment
of Coastal • Protect shorelines from erosion

Wetlands • Dissipate coastal wave energy

• Absorb excess water
 • More than half of U.S. wetlands have

Serious Loss vanished.

• Filled in and developed

of Valuable • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (E P A)

established Office of Wetlands Protection (O

Wetlands
W P) in 1986.
• Future sea level rise predicted to exacerbate
wetland loss.
Serious Loss
of Valuable
Wetlands