What is The place where the sea meets the land
The edge of the sea is a place of amazing connections. the mangrove forests – regions of rich biodiversity of both terrestrial and marine life, Due to rising demands for their meat, populations of goliath groupers declined. noun. a large area of land whose surface water all flows into a particular river or lake noun. the area of land around a river or lake that it gets its water from. It is called the coastline, or also called the seashore. What name is given to the region where sea meets land? Where land meet sea very steeply called?.
Houses close to the coast, like these in Tiburon, Californiamay be especially desirable properties. View of sea coast from top of a hill at Visakhapatnam in India More and more of the world's people live in coastal regions.
Some landlocked places have achieved port status by building canals. The coast is a frontier that nations have typically defended against military invaders, smugglers and illegal migrants. Fixed coastal defenses have long been erected in many nations and coastal countries typically have a navy and some form of coast guard.
Coasts, especially those with beaches and warm water, attract tourists.
Coast and Shore
In many island nations such as those of the Mediterranean, South Pacific and Caribbean, tourism is central to the economy. Coasts offer recreational activities such as swimmingfishingsurfingboatingand sunbathing. Growth management can be a challenge for coastal local authorities who often struggle to provide the infrastructure required by new residents.
Threats to a coast Coasts also face many human-induced environmental impacts. The human influence on climate change is thought to contribute to an accelerated trend in sea level rise which threatens coastal habitats. Pollution can occur from a number of sources: Fishing has declined due to habitat degradationoverfishingtrawlingbycatch and climate change.
Since the growth of global fishing enterprises after the s, intensive fishing has spread from a few concentrated areas to encompass nearly all fisheries. The scraping of the ocean floor in bottom dragging is devastating to coralsponges and other long-lived species that do not recover quickly.
This destruction alters the functioning of the ecosystem and can permanently alter species composition and biodiversity. Bycatchthe capture of unintended species in the course of fishing, is typically returned to the ocean only to die from injuries or exposure. Bycatch represents about a quarter of all marine catch. In the case of shrimp capture, the bycatch is five times larger than the shrimp caught. It is believed that melting Arctic ice will cause sea levels to rise and flood coastal areas.
Marine pollution and Marine debris Conservation Extraordinary population growth in the 21st century has placed stress on the planet's ecosystems. For example, on Saint Luciaharvesting mangrove for timber and clearing for fishing reduced the mangrove forests, resulting in a loss of habitat and spawning grounds for marine life that was unique to the area.
These forests also helped to stabilize the coastline. Conservation efforts since the s have partially restored the ecosystem. Types of coast According to one principle of classification, an emergent coastline is a coastline which has experienced a fall in sea level, because of either a global sea level change, or local uplift.
Emergent coastlines are identifiable by the coastal landformswhich are above the high tide mark, such as raised beaches. In contrast, a submergent coastline is one where the sea level has risen, due to a global sea level change, local subsidenceor isostatic rebound. Submergent coastlines are identifiable by their submerged, or "drowned" landforms, such as rias drowned valleys and fjords. Emergent coastline and Submergent coastline According to a second principle of classification, a concordant coastline is a coastline where bands of different rock types run parallel to the shore.
They do not move evenly and predictably over Earth's surface. Variations in the depth of the oceans and the distribution of landmasses combine with other factors to produce highly complex tidal behavior. The coast and coastline begin where the shore ends at its high tide mark farthest landward. The line between the coast and the shore at high tide is the coastline. The coast extends landward from the coastline to the first major change in terrain features, which may be miles inland.
This could be a highland or a forest or some other type of terrain. Sometimes, the change between the coast and the adjacent terrain is not so distinct. Words to Know Backshore zone: The area of a beach normally affected by waves only during a storm at high tide.
The return flow of water to the ocean following the swash of a wave. A ridge or mound of sand or gravel that lies partially or completely underwater a short distance from and parallel to a beach; also commonly known as a sand bar.
A bar that has been built up so that it rises above the normal high tide level. A body of water in a curved inlet between headlands. A deposit of loose material on shores that is moved by waves, tides, and, sometimes, winds.
The downwind movement of sand along a beach as a result of the zigzag pattern created by swash and backwash. A distinct mound of sand or gravel running parallel to the shoreline that divides the foreshore zone from the backshore zone of a beach.
A high, steep face of rock. A strip of land that extends landward from the coastline to the first major change in terrain features. The boundary between the coast and the shore. A coast in which land formerly under water has gradually risen above sea level through geologic uplift of the land or has been exposed because of a drop in sea level.
The gradual wearing away of Earth surfaces through the action of wind and water. The area of a beach between the ordinary low tide mark and the high tide mark. An elevated area of hard rock that projects out into an ocean or other large body of water. An ocean current that flows close and almost parallel to the shoreline and is caused by the angled rush of waves toward the shore.
The movement of sand and other material along a shoreline in the longshore current. An arch created by the erosion of weak rock in a sea cliff through wave action. An isolated column of rock, the eroded remnant of a sea arch, located in the ocean a short distance from the shoreline. The strip of ground bordering a body of water that is alternately covered or exposed by waves or tides. The fluctuating line between water and the shore. A long, narrow deposit of sand or gravel that projects from land into open water.
A coast in which formerly dry land has been gradually flooded, either by land sinking or by sea level rising. The rush of water up the shore after the breaking of a wave. The periodic rising and falling of water in oceans and other large bodies of water that results from the gravitational attraction of the Moon and the Sun upon Earth. A mound of sand or other beach material that rises above the water to connect an offshore island to the shore or to another island.
The highest part of a wave. An indentation produced by wave erosion at the base of a sea cliff. A horizontal bench of rock formed beneath the waves at the base of a sea cliff as it retreats because of wave erosion. The vertical distance between the wave crest and the wave trough. The horizontal distance between two wave crests or troughs.
The lowest part of a wave form between two crests. Coasts are generally classified into two types: Emergent coasts are those in which land formerly under water has gradually risen above sea level through geologic uplift of the land or has been exposed because of a drop in sea level. Currently, sea level around the world is rising by an average of 0.
So an emergent coast in the present-day is one that is rising on average more than 0. Submergent coasts are those in which formerly dry land has been gradually flooded, either by land sinking or by sea level rising. Coasts along the southeast Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico are examples of submergent coasts. Coastal landscapes may be broadly divided into rocky cliffs and sandy beaches and dunes.
All coasts experience a combination of erosion and deposition to varying degrees. Emergent coasts are typically dominated by cliffs or high, steep faces of rock.Where the Namib Desert meets the Sea
Because the land is rising in these areas, its landforms are subject to erosion. As waves break against a cliff, certain features are formed, depending on the hardness of the rock. Initially, wave action may cut an indentation, called a wave-cut notch, at the base of the cliff. When the notch becomes larger, rock in the cliff face above the notch loses support and falls into the water where it is broken up by the action of the waves.
This process continues and the cliff slowly retreats inland. As it does so, a horizontal bench of rock remains beneath the waves at high tide where the cliff once stood. This feature is called a wave-cut platform. Over time, as the land continues to rise, this platform may be elevated and a new cliff face formed.
The Literary Landscape "At the foot of this cliff a great ocean beach runs north and south unbroken, mile lengthening into mile.
Solitary and elemental, unsullied and remote, visited and possessed by the outer sea, these sands might be the end or the beginning of a world. Age by age, the sea here gives battle to the land; age by age, the earth struggles for her own, calling to her defense her energies and her creations, bidding her plants steal down upon the beach, and holding the frontier sands in a net of grass and roots which the storms wash free.
In areas where cliff rock is alternately hard and soft, headlands and bays may form. A headland is an elevated area of hard rock that projects out into an ocean or other large body of water. When soft rock is eroded away between headlands, a curved inlet that holds a body of water known as a bay forms.
Because of its location, a headland receives the brunt of Coastal features and landforms of both emergent and submergent coasts. Erosion by water and wind may create distinct features such as sea caves, sea arches, and sea stacks in a headland. Sea caves arise when waves hollow out weak areas of rock in headlands. Waves may then erode the cave through the headland, or caves on either side of the headland may meet.
Where Land Meets the Sea | Ocean Futures Society
In either case, a sea arch is formed. Erosion of the arch continues until its top portion collapses, leaving a column of hard rock known as a sea stack standing detached from the sea cliff. Continual wave erosion eventually reduces the stack into a stump.
Beaches occur when sand, gravel, and other loose material are deposited by waves along a shore. A beach extends landward from the shoreline at low tide to the shoreline at high tide during storms, when waves are at their highest.
In general, a beach is a sandy shore. Beaches are commonly divided into two zones: The foreshore zone is the area between the ordinary low tide mark and the ordinary high tide mark. The backshore zone is the area normally affected by waves only during a storm at high tide. Behind the back-shore zone may be cliffs, vegetation, or dunes created by winds moving Common elements of beach topography.
Commonly separating the two zones is a distinct mound of sand or gravel, called a berm, that runs parallel to the shoreline. It is created by the action of waves and tides. Wave activity keeps sand and other loose material in constant motion. As a consequence, it can create other features along the shore, such as spits, bars, barrier islands, and tombolos.
A spit is a long, narrow deposit of sand or gravel that projects from land into open water. Spits normally form at the mouth of a bay and curve inward. If a spit extends across the entire mouth of a bay, it is called a baymouth bar or bay barrier. A bar, commonly known as a sand bar, is a ridge or mound of sand or gravel that lies partially or completely underwater a short distance from and parallel to a beach.
If more sand is deposited on the bar so that it rises above the normal high tide level, the bar becomes a barrier island. Barrier islands range in length from 1.
Separated from the shore by a shallow body of water known as a lagoon, a barrier island often helps protect the shore from the full force of waves.
A mound of sand or other beach material that rises above the water to connect an offshore island to the shore or to another island is called a tombolo pronounced TOM-beh-low. Construction and destruction Coasts and shores are constantly changing. The shoreline moves with the waves and the tides. Rock is eroded away, and gravel and sand are deposited onshore, only to be swept back offshore.
Storms batter coasts, and tides flood areas on a daily basis. The premiere forces that shape the coastal landscape, however, are waves. Breaking waves exert great force. A foot 3-meter wave can produce a force of 30 pounds per square inch 2. In addition to the pressure exerted by their impact, waves erode by scouring rock cliffs and other coastal features with rock fragments they carry. Waves Most waves get energy and motion from the wind.
Wind blowing over the surface of an ocean or other large water body creates friction along that surface, producing tiny ripples. Further pushed by the wind, these ripples combine and increase in size. The size of waves depends on the strength of the winds, the length of the time the winds blow, and the distance of open water across which the winds blow. Large waves may be created by strong winds blowing for long periods of time across large areas of water. The highest part of a wave is called the wave crest.
The lowest part of a wave between two crests is the wave trough. The vertical distance between the wave crest and the wave trough is the wave height. The horizontal distance between two wave crests or troughs is the wavelength. As a wave travels across an ocean or other body of water, the water particles in the wave move in circular patterns, in loops. These loops extend down underneath the surface of the water only one-half the distance of the wavelength.
Water beneath that is not disturbed by wave motion. As the wave form advances across the surface, its energy moves forward, not the water itself.
The water particles in the loops essentially return to their original position after the wave has passed. As a wave enters shallow water near a shoreline, the lower loops in the wave begin to drag on the bottom. This causes the wave to slow down.