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94 DYNAMICS OF THE LAND SURFACE

LITTORAL ZONE
Beach Material in Transit
BACKSHORE FORESHORE INSHORE OFFSHORE

Berm edge

Berms
Beach face MSL
LWM
Trough mean sea level
lower water mark

Longshore bar
A

Figure 4.8 Components of the beach profile

has been subdivided in various ways (see Figure 4.8). The coastal zone includes the
area between tidal limits, the continental shelf and coastal plain (Viles and Spencer,
1995) whereas the shore zone includes beaches, cliffs, tidal and brackish water
wetlands and individual reef communities. A variety of characteristic features and
landforms (see Table 4.11) each has specific scales and duration timespans. In this
extremely energetic zone of the land surface, wave energy has much greater power
than stream power. The total instantaneous wave energy of the earth is estimated
at 5 × 107 Joules with 104 Watts dissipated along each metre of coast (Beer, 1983;
Pethick, 1984), meaning that 100 km of shore could provide as much energy as a
large conventional thermal power station and that the total annual dissipation
around the world’s shorelines is about 1.5 × 1020J. Some coasts are of course more
energetic than others – the NW coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans have
annual power delivery of 1011–1013 J (Carter, 1988).
There are many bases for classification of coasts (Bird, 2000; Davies, 1980)
based on either origin and processes, upon descriptive character, or evolution of
the coast. Whichever classification is employed, what are the controls upon coasts?
Exogenous sources of energy are the forcing functions associated with waves,
tides, currents and large events (see Table 4.10) and their role is complemented by
sediment factors, coast configuration and temporal change. Wave action provides
the dominant driving force and is a more efficient energy transporter than the river
channel where considerable loss of energy occurs through frictional drag. The
rate of energy transfer or power of a wave is an important variable with rate
of energy transfer as P = ECn (E = wave energy, C = velocity of the wave form,
n = group velocity). In theory wave steepness is H/L (H = wave height, L = wave-
length) and when >0.14 waves become unstable and collapse, and few waves are
less steep than 0.056. Circular orbits of water particles in waves at sea are trans-
formed as the waves approach the coastline and at a critical point the wave breaks,
and produces one of four forms (Pethick, 1984): surging breakers associated with
flat, low waves, and steep beaches; spilling breakers associated with high, short
waves, and on flat beaches breaking a considerable distance from the shore and
advancing as a line of foam at the wave crest, giving way to a line of surf moving
onshore. In between types are when the wave breaks by curling its crest over by
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PROCESSES AND DYNAMICS 95

Table 4.10 INFLUENCES ON COASTAL MORPHOLOGY AND COASTAL

PROCESSES
Processes can be amplified from detailed texts and internet sources.
Influence Character Comments
Forcing factors: Wave activity Rate at which wave energy is transmitted in
the direction of wave propagation is energy
flux, or wave power (P). When waves
approach coast may be refracted, or
reflected (from cliff coasts). Breaking wave
height (Hb) is the driving force of
morphological variations in coastal
morphology as wave energy is proportional
to wave height squared. Longshore
gradients of Hb can be related to variation
in beach ridge height and beach sediment
size. The temporal and spatial distribution of
wave steepness (wave height/wave length)
has been used as an indicator of the
likelihood of a beach eroding. Steep waves
tend to be destructive, eroding sediment
from the beach and transporting it into
temporary sinks in the subtidal zone, often
in longshore bar form. Waves of low
steepness tend to be constructive and
rebuild the beach creating step-like berms
that may be deflated into back-beach dunes.

Tide-related: If the tidal range is less than 2 m then wind

tidal range; waves form the dominant coastal processes
and beaches, spits and barrier islands will
be the dominant features of the coast.
Large tidal range associated with broad
intertidal zone which can be 20 km wide.
Microtidal <2 m, mesotidal 2–4 m,
megatidal >6 m.
Tidal bores, when tides drive water into
funnel-shaped inlets, can be 2 m high,
moving up Severn estuary at 4 m.s−1; bore
moves up Amazon as 2 km wide waterfall
5 m high, moving at 10m.s−1.
Coastal areas that experience tidal ranges
in excess of 4 m are dominated by tidal
landforms such as tidal flats and
saltmarshes.
Currents; Rip currents return from breaking waves,
vary with wave patterns. Tidal currents
produced as tides rise and fall.
Large events Tsunami – when strong onshore winds
and storm surges. build up coastal water to high level, very
large waves can be >30 m. Hurricanes may
also have similar effects.

Sediment Coastal sediment Coastal cells defined by sediment inputs to

cells source and the shoreline, sediment transport by tidal
supply currents.

(Continued)
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96 DYNAMICS OF THE LAND SURFACE

Table 4.10 (Continued)

Influence Character Comments
Sediment movement, Sediment transport by wave action;
corridor or pathway most coastal cells rely on erosion of
terrestrial sediment by waves as the
contributing source.
Sediment sinks Where sand is the dominant sediment
type then cell sinks may be either
onshore sand dunes or offshore shoals.

Organic Coral and algal

reefs
Mangroves and
salt marsh

Coastal setting Coastal irregularity Configuration distribution of erosion

and deposition, topography of the
adjacent continental shelf, structure
and lithology may be significant.
Morphology of Affects wave refraction (process
nearshore zone whereby deepwater waves differentially
adjust to varying bathymetric topography
as the wave moves onshore) and wave
energy.
Exposure of coastline Affects fetch (extent of water over
to ocean swell, which wind blowing).
storm and locally High energy coasts (wave height >2 m),
generated waves. low energy coasts (<1m).
Subaerial On cliffs
processes

Temporal change Oscillations in mean Eustatic changes world wide, including

sea level recent sea level rise due to global
warming
Isostatic, due to loading or unloading.
Gulf of Bothnia sea level falling 1 cm
per year
Tectonic movements Orogenic related to tectonic plates and
to earthquakes
Human impacts Groundwater or oil extraction can
cause land lowering and sea level rise,
coastal management affects erosion
and deposition cells.

Table 4.11 COASTAL LANDFORMS AND ENVIRONMENTS (SEE BIRD, 2000)

Landform environment Landforms
Beaches – unconsolidated deposits Berms, or beach terrace built up by swash
of sand and gravel deposited by deposition. Microtidal coasts typically have
waves and currents on the shore, a single swash-built berm, on mesotidal coasts
fringing about 40% of the world’s there are often two berms, and on macrotidal
coastline. coasts there are multiple berms.
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PROCESSES AND DYNAMICS 97

Table 4.11 (Continued)

Landform environment Landforms
Ridges.
Cheniers, long, narrow, vegetated marine beach
ridge or sandy hummock, 1 to 6 m high, forming
roughly parallel to a prograding shoreline
seaward of marsh and mudflat deposits,
enclosed on the seaward side by fine-grained
sediments, and resting on foreshore or mudflat
deposits. Well drained, often supporting trees
on higher areas. Widths range from 45–450 m
and lengths may exceed several km.
Beach lobes.
Cusps – scoop-shaped hollows in the beach
front maintained by variations in water depth
in which waves diverge on either side of spurs
and backwash is concentrated in the hollow.
Spits – a narrow embankment of Paired spits – often border river mouths and
land, above high tide level, oriented lagoon entrances, may result from convergent
in the direction of longshore drift, longshore drift or the breaching of a former
commonly consisting of sand or barrier, and have grown in different directions
gravel deposited by longshore at different times.
transport and having one end Trailing spits – formed in the lee of islands, and
attached to the mainland and the where island destroyed by erosion flying spit
other terminating in open water, may persist at right angles to the predominant
usually the sea, usually ending in waves.
one or more hooks or recurves. Tombolos – a sand or gravel bar or barrier that
connects an island with the mainland or with
another island or stack.
Cuspate spits – form where beach sediment is
deposited as protruding more or less
symmetrical structures, with convergence of
longshore drift from two directions.
Cuspate foreland – cuspate spits enlarged by the
accretion of beach ridges parallel to their shores.

Coastal barriers and Barrier Formed by the deposition of beach material

islands – major longshore bars offshore or across the mouths of inlets or
(barrier beaches) with lengths embayments, extending above the normal level
up to 100 km, and constituting of high tides and partly or wholly enclosing
some 13% of world’s coastlines. lagoons or swamps. Barriers are thus distinct
from bars which are submerged for part of the
tidal cycle and from reefs of biogenic origin.
Coastal wetlands. Salt marsh.
Mudflats.
Mangrove coast/swamps.
Sebkhas.
Tidal flat and intertidal landforms.
Deltas – low nearly flat area where Elongated or digitate – alluvium abundant,
sediment accumulates instead of river can build into the microtidal sea or lake
being redistributed by sea or lake and wave action limited, e.g. Mississippi.
water (see Table 4.9 and Figure 4.7, Birds-foot – multiple branching elongate deltas.
Colour plate 2)
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98 DYNAMICS OF THE LAND SURFACE

Table 4.11 (Continued)

Landform environment Landforms
Cuspate – wave action dominates the distribution
of sediment away from the river mouth, e.g. Tiber.
Lobate – river builds into the sea but wave
action redistributes sediment along coastal
barriers, e.g. Niger.
Crenulate – tidal currents produce numerous
sandy islands separated by tidal channels
along the delta front.

Estuaries – submerged sections of Rias – inlets formed by partial submergence of

valleys, tidal reaches of river mouth unglaciated river valleys.
and lagoons subject to tidal Fjords – inlets at the mouths of formerly
fluctuations and the meeting of glaciated valleys.
fresh and salt water and receiving Fiards – inlets formed by Late Quaternary
sediment from both river and submergence of formerly glaciated valleys in
marine sources. low-lying rocky terrain.
Calanques – mouths of steep-sided valleys that
were deeply incised during low sea level stages
into the limestone plateau east of Marseilles
submerged by late Quaternary transgression
to form cliff-edged inlets.
Sharms and sebkhas – on the Red Sea coast
long narrow inlets termed sharms (sherms)
have formed where wadis or valleys cut by
streams in wetter Pleistocene low sea level
episodes flooded during late Quaternary
transgression. Broader, often branched
embayments are called sebkhas on the arid
coasts of the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf.
Lagoons.

Organic coasts – Corals and Fringing reefs – attached to and extending

calcareous algae are important seaward from the land.
builders of reefs although molluscs Barrier reefs – separated from the coast by a
and sponges construct reefs in lagoon.
particular situations. Atolls – an annulus of reefs enclosing a central
lagoon.

Cliffs – 0.75% of world’s coastline Cliff profiles, caves, blowholes, gorges, arches,
is cliffed and rocky. stacks, hanging valleys and coastal waterfalls.

Shore platforms – a platform with Strandflat – on Norwegian coast up to 64 km

low slope angle at the foot of cliffs. wide on coasts rising isostatically.

Coastal dunes – formed when sand Foredunes are ridges of sand built up at the
on the shore dries out and is blown back of a beach or on the crest of a sand or
to the back of the beach. shingle berm where dune grasses have
colonized and are trapping sand.
Parallel dunes – multiple dune ridges usually
parallel to the coastline formed successively as
foredunes behind a prograding beach.
Blowouts and parabolic dunes – unstable dunes
with little or no vegetation cover.
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PROCESSES AND DYNAMICS 99

Table 4.11 (Continued)

Landform environment Landforms
Transgressive dunes – formed either when sand
blown inland from a beach and retained by
vegetation or where previously vegetated
coastal dunes disrupted by blowouts until they
merge into an elongated dune spilling inland.
Are extensive on desert coasts.
Cliff-top dunes – on some cliffed coasts where
winds blow sand against cliffs and then
climbing cliffs.
Dunes on shingle – sand arrived as
transgressive dune spilling from a nearby
beach.

Machair On coasts of Scotland and Ireland areas of

almost featureless low-lying calcareous sandy
plain, typically lie behind vegetated coastal
dune fringe. Generally of Holocene age.

plunging (plunging breakers) or collapsing (collapsing breakers) forwards on the

low water left by the previous wave. If wave crests do not approach parallel to the
shore (wave approach angles greater than 10o are unusual), then return of water
down the beach is normal to the beach and progressive drift occurs along the
beach. Many beaches of the near shore zone are characterized by a circulatory
current system in which both shore-normal and longshore currents are present
and can be distinguished as cells (see Table 4.10). The development of cells can
result in the characteristic landforms of cliffs, beaches, barriers and dunes, reflecting
wave power, currents and tidal variations (see Table 4.11) with detailed explanations
available (e.g. Bird, 2000).

4.2.5 Aeolian processes

Aeolian processes resulting from wind action are conventionally thought of

as characteristic of hot and cold deserts (Chapter 9), but wind action also
prevails along the Earth’s coastlines, can be influential in many areas of the
world (e.g. Seppala, 2004) and may be the agent of soil erosion over ploughed
land. Aeolian processes are amenable to fluid analysis in terms of energetics –
following the lead first given by Brigadier R.A. Bagnold (see Box 4.2;
Bagnold, 1941).
Gravity, friction between particles and the surface, and cohesion of particles
are the forces which resist movement. These can be overcome by forces acting on
a grain which can be resolved into the drag force acting horizontally and a lift
force acting vertically; together these must momentarily exceed the gravitation,
friction and cohesion forces holding the grain in place for aeolian movement to