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Coastal geography is the study of the constantly changing region between the ocean and the land, incorporating both the physical geography (i.e. coastal geomorphology, climatology and oceanography) and the human geography (sociology and history) of the coast.
The term coastal zone is used to refer to a region where interactions of sea and land processes occur. [10] 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.)
Landforms are categorized by characteristic physical attributes such as elevation, slope, orientation, structure stratification, rock exposure, and soil type.Gross physical features or landforms include intuitive elements such as berms, mounds, hills, ridges, cliffs, valleys, rivers, peninsulas, volcanoes, and numerous other structural and size-scaled (e.g. ponds vs. lakes, hills vs. mountains ...
Barrier island contrasted with other coastal landforms. Barrier islands are a coastal landform, a type of dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. [1] They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few islands to more than a dozen.
Beaches provide a filter for runoff from the coastal plain. If the runoff is naturally dispersed along the beach, water borne silt and organic matter will be retained on the land and will feed the flora in the coastal area. Runoff that is dispersed along the beach will tend to percolate through the beach and may emerge from the beach at low tide.
Coastal plains can form in one of two ways; some begin as a continental shelf, a flat piece of land located below sea level, and are created when the ocean level falls, exposing the land. Others develop when river currents carry sediment into the ocean, which is deposited and builds up over time until it forms a coastal plain.
A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape. [1] Headlands are characterised by high, breaking waves, rocky shores, intense erosion, and steep sea cliff.
Coastal and oceanic landforms. Integrated coastal zone management minimizes the negative human impacts on coasts, enhances coastal defense, mitigates the risk associated with the sea level rise and other natural hazards. The beach erosion is a type of bioerosion which alters the coastal geography through beach morphodynamics.