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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.)
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.
The littoral zone, also called litoral or nearshore, is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. [1] In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal areas that are permanently submerged — known as the foreshore — and the terms are often used interchangeably.
A marine coastal ecosystem is a marine ecosystem which occurs where the land meets the ocean. Worldwide there is about 620,000 kilometres (390,000 mi) of coastline. Coastal habitats extend to the margins of the continental shelves, occupying about 7 percent of the ocean surface area.
Cape (geography) Cascadia Channel; Channel (geography) Chenier; Chevron (land form) Cliff; Cliff-top dune; Cliffed coast; Coast; Coastal plain; Coastal waterfall; Cold seep; Continental shelf; Continental shelf of Chile; Coral reef; Cowaramup Bombora; Cuspate foreland; Cyclic steps
Coastal California is heavily influenced by east–west distances to the dominant cold California Current as well as microclimates.Due to hills and coast ranges having strong meteorological effects, summer and winter temperatures (other than occasional heat waves) are heavily moderated by ocean currents and fog with strong seasonal lags compared to interior valleys as little as 10 mi (16 km) away.
The edges of habitats, in this case the land and sea, are themselves often significant ecosystems, and the littoral zone is a prime example. A typical rocky shore can be divided into a spray zone or splash zone (also known as the supratidal zone ), which is above the spring high-tide line and is covered by water only during storms, and an ...