Coasts

concordant / discordant

emergent / submergent

The littoral zone

High / low energy

  • concordant coast lines have bands of different resistance rocks that run perpendicular to the coast line
  • discordant coast lines have bands of rock that run parallel to the coast
  • off shore
  • nearshore
  • foreshore
  • backshore
  • Emergent coastlines happen when ice glaciers melt and reveal the coastlines which were previously covered


  • Submergent coastlines occur when low lying areas are submerged by rising sea levels and only the high rising sections are left exposed, an example of this is the West Croatian coastline


  • high energy coastlines are where the rate of erosion exceeds the rate of deposition and produces erosional features like headlands
  • Low energy coastlines are where the rate of deposition exceeds the rate of erosion and produces depositional features like spits

Processes

  • abrasion, attrition, solution, hydraulic action
  • sub aerial processes: mass movement, weathering
  • biological, chemical, mechanical weathering
  • traction, solution, longshore drift
  • salt wedging: salt crystals harden on rock surface and widen joints in the rock as they harden

Sea level change

  • eustatic: global change in sea level
  • isostatic: local change in sea level