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A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake.<ref>Template:Cite American Heritage Dictionary</ref><ref>Template:Cite Merriam-Webster</ref> Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, such as that caused by waves. The geological composition of rock and soil dictates the type of shore that is created. Earth has about Template:Cvt of coastline.
Coasts are important zones in natural ecosystems, often home to a wide range of biodiversity. On land, they harbor ecosystems, such as freshwater or estuarine wetlands, that are important for birds and other terrestrial animals. In wave-protected areas, coasts harbor salt marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses, all of which can provide nursery habitat for finfish, shellfish, and other aquatic animals.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":4">Template:Cite journal</ref> Rocky shores are usually found along exposed coasts and provide habitat for a wide range of sessile animals (e.g. mussels, starfish, barnacles) and various kinds of seaweeds.
In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past and present, and the beach is at the edge of the shore, including the intertidal zone where there is one.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Along tropical coasts with clear, nutrient-poor water, coral reefs can often be found at depths of Template:Cvt.
According to an atlas prepared by the United Nations, about 44% of the human population lives within Template:Cvt of the sea Template:As of.<ref name="UN Atlas">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Due to its importance in society and its high population concentrations, the coast is important for major parts of the global food and economic system, and they provide many ecosystem services to humankind. For example, important human activities happen in port cities. Coastal fisheries (commercial, recreational, and subsistence) and aquaculture are major economic activities and create jobs, livelihoods, and protein for the majority of coastal human populations. Other coastal spaces like beaches and seaside resorts generate large revenues through tourism.
Marine coastal ecosystems can also provide protection against sea level rise and tsunamis. In many countries, mangroves are the primary source of wood for fuel (e.g. charcoal) and building material. Coastal ecosystems like mangroves and seagrasses have a much higher capacity for carbon sequestration than many terrestrial ecosystems, and as such can play a critical role in the near-future to help mitigate climate change effects by uptake of atmospheric anthropogenic carbon dioxide.
However, the economic importance of coasts makes many of these communities vulnerable to climate change, which causes increases in extreme weather and sea level rise, as well as related issues like coastal erosion, saltwater intrusion, and coastal flooding.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Other coastal issues, such as marine pollution, marine debris, coastal development, and marine ecosystem destruction, further complicate the human uses of the coast and threaten coastal ecosystems.<ref name=":0" />
The interactive effects of climate change, habitat destruction, overfishing, and water pollution (especially eutrophication) have led to the demise of coastal ecosystem around the globe. This has resulted in population collapse of fisheries stocks, loss of biodiversity, increased invasion of alien species, and loss of healthy habitats. International attention to these issues has been captured in Sustainable Development Goal 14 "Life Below Water", which sets goals for international policy focused on preserving marine coastal ecosystems and supporting more sustainable economic practices for coastal communities.<ref name=":17">United Nations (2017) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (A/RES/71/313)</ref> Likewise, the United Nations has declared 2021–2030 the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, but restoration of coastal ecosystems has received insufficient attention.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Since coasts are constantly changing, a coastline's exact perimeter cannot be determined; this measurement challenge is called the coastline paradox. The term coastal zone is used to refer to a region where interactions of sea and land processes occur.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Both the terms coast and coastal are often used to describe a geographic location or region located on a coastline (e.g., New Zealand's West Coast, or the East, West, and Gulf Coast of the United States.) Coasts with a narrow continental shelf that are close to the open ocean are called pelagic coast, while other coasts are more sheltered coast in a gulf or bay. A shore, on the other hand, may refer to parts of land adjoining any large body of water, including oceans (sea shore) and lakes (lake shore).
SizeEdit
The Earth has approximately Template:Convert of coastline. Coastal habitats, which extend to the margins of the continental shelves, make up about 7 percent of the Earth's oceans,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but at least 85% of commercially harvested fish depend on coastal environments during at least part of their life cycle.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Template:Asof about 2.86% of exclusive economic zones were part of marine protected areas.<ref name="iucn.org">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The definition of coasts varies. Marine scientists think of the "wet" (aquatic or intertidal) vegetated habitats as being coastal ecosystems (including seagrass, salt marsh etc.) whilst some terrestrial scientists might only think of coastal ecosystems as purely terrestrial plants that live close to the seashore (see also estuaries and coastal ecosystems).
While there is general agreement in the scientific community regarding the definition of coast, in the political sphere, the delineation of the extents of a coast differ according to jurisdiction.Template:Citation needed<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Government authorities in various countries may define coast differently for economic and social policy reasons.
Challenges of precisely measuring the coastlineEdit
Formation Template:AnchorEdit
Tides often determine the range over which sediment is deposited or eroded. Areas with high tidal ranges allow waves to reach farther up the shore, and areas with lower tidal ranges produce deposition at a smaller elevation interval. The tidal range is influenced by the size and shape of the coastline. Tides do not typically cause erosion by themselves; however, tidal bores can erode as the waves surge up the river estuaries from the ocean.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
Geologists classify coasts on the basis of tidal range into macrotidal coasts with a tidal range greater than Template:Convert; mesotidal coasts with a tidal range of Template:Convert; and microtidal coasts with a tidal range of less than Template:Convert. The distinction between macrotidal and mesotidal coasts is more important. Macrotidal coasts lack barrier islands and lagoons, and are characterized by funnel-shaped estuaries containing sand ridges aligned with tidal currents. Wave action is much more important for determining bedforms of sediments deposited along mesotidal and microtidal coasts than in macrotidal coasts.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Waves erode coastline as they break on shore releasing their energy; the larger the wave the more energy it releases and the more sediment it moves. Coastlines with longer shores have more room for the waves to disperse their energy, while coasts with cliffs and short shore faces give little room for the wave energy to be dispersed. In these areas, the wave energy breaking against the cliffs is higher, and air and water are compressed into cracks in the rock, forcing the rock apart, breaking it down. Sediment deposited by waves comes from eroded cliff faces and is moved along the coastline by the waves. This forms an abrasion or cliffed coast.
Sediment deposited by rivers is the dominant influence on the amount of sediment located in the case of coastlines that have estuaries.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite book</ref> Today, riverine deposition at the coast is often blocked by dams and other human regulatory devices, which remove the sediment from the stream by causing it to be deposited inland. Coral reefs are a provider of sediment for coastlines of tropical islands.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Like the ocean which shapes them, coasts are a dynamic environment with constant change. The Earth's natural processes, particularly sea level rises, waves and various weather phenomena, have resulted in the erosion, accretion and reshaping of coasts as well as flooding and creation of continental shelves and drowned river valleys (rias).
Importance for humans and ecosystemsEdit
Human settlementsEdit
More and more of the world's people live in coastal regions.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> According to a United Nations atlas, 44% of all people live within 150 km (93 mi) of the sea.<ref name="UN Atlas" /> Many major cities are on or near good harbors and have port facilities. Some landlocked places have achieved port status by building canals.
Nations defend their coasts 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.
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Paddy fields by the coast of Fengbin, Hualien
TourismEdit
Coasts, especially those with beaches and warm water, attract tourists often leading to the development of seaside resort communities. In many island nations such as those of the Mediterranean, South Pacific Ocean and Caribbean, tourism is central to the economy. Coasts offer recreational activities such as swimming, fishing, surfing, boating, and sunbathing.
Growth management and coastal management can be a challenge for coastal local authorities who often struggle to provide the infrastructure required by new residents, and poor management practices of construction often leave these communities and infrastructure vulnerable to processes like coastal erosion and sea level rise. In many of these communities, management practices such as beach nourishment or when the coastal infrastructure is no longer financially sustainable, managed retreat to remove communities from the coast.
- Amalfi Coast (Italy, October 2020) - 75 (50558355441).jpg
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Ecosystem servicesEdit
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TypesEdit
Emergent coastlineEdit
Template:Further information According to one principle of classification, an emergent coastline is a coastline that 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 landforms, which 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 subsidence, or isostatic rebound. Submergent coastlines are identifiable by their submerged, or "drowned" landforms, such as rias (drowned valleys) and fjords
Concordant coastlineEdit
Template:Further information According to the second principle of classification, a concordant coastline is a coastline where bands of different rock types run parallel to the shore. These rock types are usually of varying resistance, so the coastline forms distinctive landforms, such as coves. Discordant coastlines feature distinctive landforms because the rocks are eroded by the ocean waves. The less resistant rocks erode faster, creating inlets or bay; the more resistant rocks erode more slowly, remaining as headlands or outcroppings.
High and low energy coastsEdit
Parts of a coastline can be categorised as high energy coast or low energy coast. The distinguishing characteristics of a high energy coast are that the average wave energy is relatively high so that erosion of small grained material tends to exceed deposition, and consequently landforms like cliffs, headlands and wave-cut terraces develop.<ref name="field studies" /> Low energy coasts are generally sheltered from waves, or in regions where the average wind wave and swell conditions are relatively mild. Low energy coasts typically change slowly, and tend to be depositional environments.<ref name="Vaia" />
High energy coasts are exposed to the direct impact of waves and storms, and are generally erosional environments.<ref name="Vaia" /> High energy storm events can make large changes to a coastline, and can move significant amounts of sediment over a short period, sometimes changing a shoreline configuration.<ref name="Guisado-Pintado and Jackson 2019" />
Destructive and constructive wavesEdit
Swash is the shoreward flow after the break, backwash is the water flow back down the beach. The relative strength of flow in the swash and backwash determines what size grains are deposited or eroded. This is dependent on how the wave breaks and the slope of the shore.<ref name="field studies method" /> Depending on the form of the breaking wave, its energy can carry granular material up the beach and deposit it, or erode it by carrying more material down the slope than up it. Steep waves that are close together and break with the surf plunging down onto the shore slope expend much of their energy lifting the sediment. The weak swash does not carry it far up the slope, and the strong backwash carries it further down the slope, where it either settles in deeper water or is carried along the shore by a longshore current induced by an angled approach of the wave-front to the shore. These waves which erode the beach are called destructive waves.<ref name="BBC" /> Low waves that are further apart and break by spilling, expend more of their energy in the swash which carries particles up the beach, leaving less energy for the backwash to transport them downslope, with a net constrictive influence on the beach.<ref name="BBC" />
RivierasEdit
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Riviera is an Italian word for "shoreline",<ref name="Chambers">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name="Kolb">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>The more common ones are puntellare and litorale.</ref> ultimately derived from Latin {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ("riverbank"). It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of the Ligurian Sea, in the form riviera ligure, then shortened to riviera. Historically, the Ligurian Riviera extended from Capo Corvo (Punta Bianca) south of Genoa, north and west into what is now French territory past Monaco and sometimes as far as Marseille.<ref name="Chambers" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Today, this coast is divided into the Italian Riviera and the French Riviera, although the French use the term "Riviera" to refer to the Italian Riviera and call the French portion the "Côte d'Azur".<ref name="Kolb" />
As a result of the fame of the Ligurian rivieras, the term came into English to refer to any shoreline, especially one that is sunny, topographically diverse and popular with tourists.<ref name="Chambers" /> Such places using the term include the Australian Riviera in Queensland and the Turkish Riviera along the Aegean Sea.<ref name="Kolb" />
Other coastal categoriesEdit
- A cliffed coast or abrasion coast is one where marine action has produced steep declivities known as cliffs.
- A flat coast is one where the land gradually descends into the sea.
- A graded shoreline is one where wind and water action has produced a flat and straight coastline.
- A primary coast isone which is mainly undergoing early stage development by major long-term processes such as tectonism and climate change A secondary coast is one where the primary processes have mostly stabilised, and more localised processes have become prominent.<ref name="Vaia" />
- An erosional coast is on average undergoing erosion, while a depositional coast is accumulating material.<ref name="Vaia" />
- An active coast is on the edge of a tectonic plate, while a passive coast is usually on a substantial continental shelf or away from a plate edge.<ref name="Vaia" />
LandformsEdit
The following articles describe some coastal landforms:
Cliff erosionEdit
- Much of the sediment deposited along a coast is the result of erosion of a surrounding cliff, or bluff. Sea cliffs retreat landward because of the constant undercutting of slopes by waves. If the slope/cliff being undercut is made of unconsolidated sediment it will erode at a much faster rate than a cliff made of bedrock.<ref name=":2" />
- A natural arch is formed when a headland is eroded through by waves.
- Sea caves are made when certain rock beds are more susceptible to erosion than the surrounding rock beds because of different areas of weakness. These areas are eroded at a faster pace creating a hole or crevice that, through time, by means of wave action and erosion, becomes a cave.
- A stack is formed when a headland is eroded away by wave and wind action or an arch collapses leaving an offshore remnant.
- A stump is a shortened sea stack that has been eroded away or fallen because of instability.
- Wave-cut notches are caused by the undercutting of overhanging slopes which leads to increased stress on cliff material and a greater probability that the slope material will fall. The fallen debris accumulates at the bottom of the cliff and is eventually removed by waves.
- A wave-cut platform forms after erosion and retreat of a sea cliff has been occurring for a long time. Gently sloping wave-cut platforms develop early on in the first stages of cliff retreat. Later, the length of the platform decreases because the waves lose their energy as they break further offshore.<ref name=":2" />Template:Clarify
Coastal features formed by sedimentEdit
- Beach
- Beach cusps
- Cuspate foreland
- Dune system
- Mudflat
- Raised beach
- Ria
- Shoal
- Spit
- Strand plain
- Surge channel
- Tombolo
Coastal features formed by another featureEdit
Other features on the coastEdit
Coastal watersEdit
"Coastal waters" (or "coastal seas") is a term that carries different meanings depending upon the context, ranging from a geographic reference to the waters within a few kilometers of the coast, to describing the entire continental shelf that may stretch for more than a hundred kilometers from land.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The term is used in a different manner when describing legal and economic boundaries, such as territorial waters<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and international waters,<ref>Template:Cite book (defining "navigable sea")</ref> or when describing the geography of coastal landforms or the ecological systems operating through the continental shelf (marine coastal ecosystems).
The dynamic fluid nature of the ocean means that all components of the whole ocean system are ultimately connected, although certain regional classifications are useful and relevant. The waters of the continental shelves represent such a region.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The term "coastal waters" has been used in a wide variety of different ways in different contexts. In European Union environmental management it extends from the coast to just a few nautical miles<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> while in the United States the US EPA considers this region to extend much further offshore.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>USEPA (2001) Nutrient Criteria Technical Guidance Manual, Estuarine and Coastal Marine Waters, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency</ref>
"Coastal waters" has specific meanings in the context of commercial coastal shipping, and somewhat different meanings in the context of naval littoral warfare.Template:Citation needed Oceanographers and marine biologists have yet other takes. Coastal waters have a wide range of marine habitats from enclosed estuaries to the open waters of the continental shelf.
Similarly, the term littoral zone has no single definition. It is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore.<ref name="Seekell2021">Template:Cite journal</ref> In coastal environments, the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged.
Coastal waters can be threatened by coastal eutrophication and harmful algal blooms.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":32">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":16">Template:Cite journal</ref>
In geologyEdit
The identification of bodies of rock formed from sediments deposited in shoreline and nearshore environments (shoreline and nearshore facies) is extremely important to geologists. These provide vital clues for reconstructing the geography of ancient continents (paleogeography). The locations of these beds show the extent of ancient seas at particular points in geological time, and provide clues to the magnitudes of tides in the distant past.<ref name=Leeder2011>Template:Cite book</ref>
Sediments deposited in the shoreface are preserved as lenses of sandstone in which the upper part of the sandstone is coarser than the lower part (a coarsening upwards sequence). Geologists refer to these are parasequences. Each records an episode of retreat of the ocean from the shoreline over a period of 10,000 to 1,000,000 years. These often show laminations reflecting various kinds of tidal cycles.<ref name=Leeder2011/>
Some of the best-studied shoreline deposits in the world are found along the former western shore of the Western Interior Seaway, a shallow sea that flooded central North America during the late Cretaceous Period (about 100 to 66 million years ago). These are beautifully exposed along the Book Cliffs of Utah and Colorado.Template:Sfn
Geologic processesEdit
The following articles describe the various geologic processes that affect a coastal zone: Template:Div col
- Attrition
- Currents
- Denudation
- Deposition
- Erosion
- Flooding
- Longshore drift
- Marine sediments
- Saltation
- Sea level change
- Sedimentation
- Coastal sediment supply
- sediment transport
- solution
- subaerial processes
- suspension
- Tides
- Water waves
- Weathering
WildlifeEdit
AnimalsEdit
Template:See also Template:Unsourced section Larger animals that live in coastal areas include puffins, sea turtles and rockhopper penguins, among many others. Sea snails and various kinds of barnacles live on rocky coasts and scavenge on food deposited by the sea. Some coastal animals are used to humans in developed areas, such as dolphins and seagulls who eat food thrown for them by tourists. Since the coastal areas are all part of the littoral zone, there is a profusion of marine life found just off-coast, including sessile animals such as corals, sponges, starfish, mussels, seaweeds, fishes, and sea anemones.
There are many kinds of seabirds on various coasts. These include pelicans and cormorants, who join up with terns and oystercatchers to forage for fish and shellfish. There are sea lions on the coast of Wales and other countries.
Coastal fishEdit
PlantsEdit
Many coastal areas are famous for their kelp beds. Kelp is a fast-growing seaweed that can grow up to half a meter a day in ideal conditions. Mangroves, seagrasses, macroalgal beds, and salt marsh are important coastal vegetation types in tropical and temperate environments respectively.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4" /> Restinga is another type of coastal vegetation.
ThreatsEdit
Coasts also face many human-induced environmental impacts and coastal development hazards. The most important ones are:
- Pollution which can be in the form of water pollution, nutrient pollution (leading to coastal eutrophication and harmful algal blooms), oil spills or marine debris that is contaminating coasts with plastic and other trash.
- Sea level rise, and associated issues like coastal erosion and saltwater intrusion.
PollutionEdit
The pollution of coastlines is connected to marine pollution which can occur from a number of sources: Marine debris (garbage and industrial debris); the transportation of petroleum in tankers, increasing the probability of large oil spills; small oil spills created by large and small vessels, which flush bilge water into the ocean.
Marine pollutionEdit
Marine debrisEdit
MicroplasticsEdit
Sea level rise due to climate changeEdit
Global goalsEdit
International attention to address the threats of coasts has been captured in Sustainable Development Goal 14 "Life Below Water" which sets goals for international policy focused on preserving marine coastal ecosystems and supporting more sustainable economic practices for coastal communities.<ref name=":17" /> Likewise, the United Nations has declared 2021–2030 the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, but restoration of coastal ecosystems has received insufficient attention.<ref name=":3" />
See alsoEdit
- Bank (geography)
- Beach cleaning
- Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation
- European Atlas of the Seas
- Intertidal zone
- Land reclamation
- List of countries by length of coastline
- List of U.S. states by coastline
- Offshore or Intertidal zone
- Ballantine Scale
- Coastal path
- Shorezone
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
External linksEdit
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - organization dedicated to ocean research, exploration, and education
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