1. Coasts

2. Coasts can be
active or passive
erosional or depositional

3. Parts of a beach

4. Wave refraction along a straight coast

5. Elevation (ft)
Distance (ft)
The gentler the beach slope, the finer the beach sediments tend to be, as can be seen from these profiles of the Half Moon Bay, California.

6. Thermocline at the Carmel Beach is seasonal ...2 4 6 8 10 12 14 20 40 60 80
100
Seawater temperature (°C)
Depth from sea-surface (m)
September
November
January
March
May
June
August
Thermocline
at the Carmel
Beach is seasonal ...

7. … and so is the beach profile. Height above mean low water (m) August6 3 30 60 90
120
150
Distance from the sea cliff (m)
Height above mean low water (m)
February
April
September
December
July
June
May
… and so is
the beach profile.

8. Seawater Temperature
Depth
Winter
Summer
Sea
surface
Beach profile

9. Longshore current and littoral drift

11. These two pictures are of the same beach at Barnes Bay, Anguilla
These two pictures are of the same beach at Barnes Bay, Anguilla. The one on the left was taken in 1994 ….
… and the one on the right was taken sometime in 1995.

12. How baymouth bars and spits form

13. Formation of a tambolo

14. Coastal straightening by wave-erosion

15. The development of a wave-cut platform

18. Deltas can be 1.
tide-dominated,
river dominated,
and
wave-dominated

19. Continental
shelf, slope, and submarine canyon

20. A submarine canyon is a collapsed river channel

21. How construction modifies the shoreline:
The constructing a groin or a pier, i.e., a structure perpendicular to the shoreline

22. How construction modifies the shoreline:
Constructing a breakwater wall means sand pile-up right behind the breakwater wall and erosion downstream

23. Santa Barbara Harbor