GRG301C: Ch. 13: Coastal
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Created by:
nikkifahrenthold on April 16, 2012
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40 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 abrasion | the grinding and scraping of a rock surface by the friction and impact of rock particles carried by water, wind, or ice |
| backshore | the inner portion of the shore, lying landward of the high-tide shoreline; it is usually dry, being affected by waves only during storms |
| barrier islands | a low, elongated ridge of sand that parallels the coast |
| baymouth bar | a sandbar that completely crosses a bay, sealing it off from the main body of water |
| beach | an accumulation of sediment found along the landward margin of the ocean or a lake |
| beach drift | the transport of sediment in a zigzag pattern along a beach; caused by the uprush of water from obliquely breaking waves |
| beach face | the wet, sloping surface that extends from the berm to the shoreline |
| beach nourishment | large quantities of sand are added to the beach system to offset losses caused by wave erosion |
| berm | the dry, gently sloping zone on the backshore of a beach at the foot of the coastal cliffs or dunes |
| breakwater | a structure protecting a nearshore area from breaking waves |
| coast | a strip of land that extends inland from the coastline as far as ocean-related features can be found |
| coastline | the coast's seaward edge; the landward limit of the effect of the highest storm waves on the shore |
| emergent coast | a coast where land formerly below the sea level has been exposed by either crustal uplift or a drop in sea level or both |
| estuary | a partially enclosed coastal water body that is connected to the ocean |
| eye | a zone of scattered clouds and calm averaging about 20 kilometers in diameter at the center of a hurricane |
| eye wall | a doughnut-shaped area of intense cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) development and very strong winds that surrounds the eye of a hurricane |
| foreshore | the portion of the shore lying between the normal high- and low- water marks; the intertidal zone |
| groin | a short wall built at a right angle to the seashore to trap moving sand |
| longshore current | a nearshore current that flows parallel to the shore |
| neap tide | the lowest tidal range, occurring near the times of the first and third quarters of the moon |
| nearshore zone | the zone of a beach that extends from the low-tide shoreline seaward to where waves break at low tide |
| offshore zone | the relatively flat submerged zone that extends from the breaker line to the edge of the continental shelf |
| rip current | a strong, narrow surface or near-surface current of short duration and high speed that moves seaward through the breaker zone at nearly a right angle to the shore |
| sea arch | an arch formed by wave erosion when caves on opposite sides of a headland unite |
| sea stack | an isolated mass of rock standing just offshore, produced by wave erosion of a headland |
| seawall | a barrier constructed to prevent waves from reaching the area behind the wall; its purpose is to defend property from the force of breaking waves |
| shore | seaward of the coast, this zone extends from the highest level of wave action during storms to the lowest tide level |
| shoreline | the line that marks the contact between land and sea; it migrates up and down as the tide rises and falls |
| spit | an elongated ridge of sand that projects from the land into the mouth of an adjacent bay |
| spring tide | the highest tidal range; occurs near the times of the new and full moons |
| submergent coast | a coast whose form is largely the result of the partial drowning of a former land surface due either to a rise of sea level or subsidence of the crust, or both |
| surf | a collective term for breakers; also the wave activity in the area between the shoreline and the outer limit of breakers |
| tide | periodic change in the elevation of the ocean's surface |
| tombolo | a ridge of sand that connects an island to the mainland or to another island |
| wave-cut cliff | a sea-ward facing cliff along a steep shoreline formed by wave erosion at is base and by mass wasting |
| wave-cut platform | a bench or shelf along a shore at sea level, cut by wave erosion |
| wave height | the vertical distance between the trough and crest of a wave |
| wavelength | the horizontal distance separating successive crests or troughs |
| wave period | the time interval between the passage of successive crests at a stationary point |
| refraction | a change in direction of waves as they enter shallow water |
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