1. What is a coastal environment?

A coast is the area where the sea or ocean meets the land.

What factors lead to the differences and dynamism of coastal environments?

• Waves
• Currents
• Tides  
• Geology (rock composition)
• Human activities (e.g. trading, fishing, recreation)
• Types of ecosystems (e.g. mangroves and coral reefs)

Waves
• It is the main shaping force of coastal environments
• Waves form when wind blows across the surface of seas and oceans
• Energy from the wind is transferred to the water and it is this wind that helps shape coasts when the waves
hit land

Currents
• They are large-scale and persistent movements of water in seas and oceans, driven by prevailing winds
(generally blow in one direction)
• Ocean currents play a very important role in distributing sediments and regulating temperatures
• Currents (e.g. longshore currents) carry large amounts of energy and shape coasts through the processes of
coastal erosion, sediment transport and sediment deposition
• Ocean currents carry cool water away from the North and South poles towards the Equator and warm water
from the Equator towards the Poles
• In this way, ocean currents help create milder climates in coastal areas

Tides
• Refer to the daily alternate rising and falling of the sea level seen along the coasts
• They are caused primarily by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun on the earth
• Low tides are experienced between the high tides and takes about 6 hours for tides to change
• Each coastal area receives two high tides and two low tides daily and the difference in water level between
low and high tides is called the tidal range
• Tidal action has a significant impact on the coast
• For example at high tides, waves erode and transport more sediments away from the larger parts of the
coasts than at other times
• Areas located between low and high tides will have more weathering and erosion than areas constantly
submerged by sea water

Geology
• Coastal environments are affected by their geology, which is the arrangement and composition of rock found
in the area
• Rocks may be arranged in layers, such as in alternate layers of hard and soft rocks
• More resistant rocks such as granite and basalt will erode slower than less resistant rocks such as limestone
and shale
• But granite and basalt are still vulnerable to erosion when the joints of these rocks are attacked by waves,
thus erosion weakens the rocks
• Coastal processes that operate on coasts consisting of different types of rock result in coasts with different
coastlines

Human activities
•  People change coastal environments by living, trading, fishing and engaging in recreational activities in
these environments
• For example, people alter coastlines when they build marinas and port facilities
• People also cause pollution in these environments by dumping waste

Types of ecosystems
• Communities of plants and animals interact with each other as well as the environment and ecosystems in
coastal environments include mangroves and coral reefs
• They affect the rate of change of coastal environments by reducing the impacts of waves on coasts
• For example, coral reefs provide natural barriers that help slow down the speed and impacts of waves on the
coastline
• Another example is mangroves with aerial roots, help to trap sediments and reduce coastal erosion
• Over time, the trapped sediments can form small islands and extend the coastline further seawards

2. Explain how waves are generated and the factor influencing wave energy.

Waves are generated when there is a transfer of energy from wind to water surface 

Wave Energy
• It is the energy produced by the movement of waves
• Wind energy depends the fetch, the wind speed and the wind duration

Factor Description Size and energy of waves

Fetch The distance of the sea over The greater the fetch, the more
which wind blows to generate energy the waves have
waves
Wind speed The speed of air movement The faster the wind speed, the
greater the waves energy
Duration of The length of time which the The longer the wind blows, the larger
wind wind blows continuously the waves

3. Explain the processes which occur when waves breaks.

The forward movement of waves up the shore is called swash (loses energy due to gravity)
The flow back to the sea (due to gravity) is called backwash
The swash carries sediments up the shore while the backwash carries the sediments back towards the sea.

5. Describe the different types of waves and their associated coastal environment.
Constructive waves Destructive waves
-Occur in calm weather on gentle-sloping -Occur on steeply-sloping coasts
coasts -These break violently with high energy
-These waves break gently with little energy -They have a weak swash but a strong backwash
-They have a strong swash but a weak -The steep gradient causes the waves to break and plunge dire
backwash down the coast
-The gentle gradient allows the waves to -The near-vertical breaking of the waves result in a weak swas
surge a greater distance up the coast and which does not get to travel far up the coast to deposit materia
carry sediment up the beach -However, it generates a strong backwash which can move a
-More materials are therefore brought up and considerable
deposited on the coast than are removed amount of sediment towards the sea
-Overtime, the coast is built up by the -Destructive waves erode the coast and transport coastal rocks
deposited sediment beach materials away from the coast

6. Explain wave refraction and the processes which occur when waves break. 
• The process by which waves change direction when they approach a coast
• Waves converge on headlands and diverge on bays
• When waves converge – increased wave height and greater erosive energy
• When waves diverge – decreased wave height and lower erosive energy
• Uneven impact on shoreline

Fig. 4: Action of wave refraction on headland and bay 

At the headland – waves approach a headland and bend towards it. More erosion will occur at the
headland where wave energy is concentrated.

At the bay - waves diverge when they reach the adjacent bays. More deposition will occur in bays where
wave energy is spread out.
7. Why do coastal landforms and features vary from place to place?

Coastal Processes
A. Coastal Erosion
B. Coastal Transportation (Sediment transport) 
C. Coastal Deposition (Sediment deposition)

A) Coastal Erosion
Factors affecting coastal erosion
Types of waves Structure and composition of Position of the coast
coastal rocks
·Destructive waves have ·Coastal rocks with cracks and ·Coasts that are protected
more energy therefore joints will be eroded and broken or sheltered from prevailing
more materials are down more quickly when attack by winds and wave action by
eroded than deposited waves natural or man-made
·A coast that consists of soft rocks structures will experience
such as shale and clay will be less erosion than coasts that
eroded much faster are open and unprotected
·Coastal rock with soluble minerals
can chemically react with water to
form new chemicals, which may
gradually weakened and broken
down under the constant attack of
sea water

Processes of Coastal Erosion

Type of coastal erosional Description
processes
Hydraulic action       It is the direct impact of the waves against the coast
      The sheer force of breaking waves pounding against a sea cliff exerts
great pressure on the cliff face
      Air in the cracks may be compressed by the water entering the cracks
and the pressure exerted can widen the cracks
      Over time, this constant compression and outward push of the air may
cause the cracks to be enlarged
      Eventually, it will cause the breakdown of the rocks

Abrasion         Refers to the impact of materials carried by the waves scraping/ hurling
against the coast
      Destructive waves are capable of lifting up large pieces of rocks from the
sea bed and hurling them against the coast
      This powerful impact of the rocks being thrown against the coast may
eventually erode and change the coast
Solution    When waves react chemically with soluble minerals contained in the
rocks and dissolved them, a chemical solution is formed
 Limestone is susceptible to this process by the action of carbonic acid
Attrition  When rocks carried by the waves rub or hit against each other, they
break down into smaller pieces
 Overtime, the rocks become more rounded too

B) Coastal Transportation
One way of transporting sediments along the coast is by beach drift and longshore drift
When waves approach the coast at an angle, the swash carries the materials in the water up the beach at an oblique angle, while the backwash carries the materials
perpendicularly down the beach due to the pull of gravity
This results in a zigzag movement of the materials along the beach
This process is known as beach drift
 When the waves approach the coast at an angle, they generate longshore currents in the nearshore zone and move sediments along the shore
Longshore currents are ocean currents that flow parallel to the coast
The combined effect of sediment movement by longshore currents and beach drift is known as the longshore drift
The direction of the longshore drift is affected by the direction of the wind
For example, if the wind is blowing from a southeast direction, the direction of the longshore drift will be from east to west
This is a powerful process that is capable of moving very large amounts of beach sediments along the direction of movement

C) Coastal Deposition
 Sediments are transported away and deposited elsewhere. When wave energy decreases, the waves
are unable to carry these sediments. Marge sediments are deposited first, followed by the smaller
sediments. Deposited sediments vary in types and size, resulting in a variety of beaches.

Deposition of sediment along the coast is dependent on the following factors:

Supply of sediments Gradient of slope Position of the coast

Most sediment is transported On gentle slopes, the wave Coasts that are sheltered by
down to the coast by energy is spread out and barriers have calm conditions that
rivers. Some sediment come reduced because of friction with allow deposition to take place
from the coastal erosion, and the shore as well as because of which may develop feature like
some is deposited onto the coast gravitational pull beach
by the waves Therefore the constructive waves Sandy beaches are common in
When the wave energy is weak deposit materials rather than protected bays
and the waves cannot carry their erode the materials Headlands which are extensions
load of sediments, deposition of bedrock jutting out into the
takes place sea, are also common features