Coastal Features and Formations

• A coastline marks where land meets the seas or oceans.
• Coastlines include beaches, cliffs, capes, caves, bays, and estuaries.
• Coastal features are located close together on a coastline.

Coastal Features

• Natural Arch: An arch hollowed out of a headland by the sea.
• Beach: An accumulation of sand or pebbles along a coast.
• Cave: A natural underground cavity resulting from the dissolution and erosion of rock by water.
• Cliff: A steep rock face shaped by a sea.
• Dune: An accumulation of wind-shaped sand.
• Headland: A tapering strip of land jutting into the sea.
• Lagoon: A shallow expanse of seawater separated from the sea by a ridge of sand or a barrier island.
• River Estuary: The mouth of a river influenced by the tides, forming a coastline indentation of varying width and depth.
• Rocky Islet: A small island made of rock.
• Sand Island: An exposed summit of a sand deposit formed near or occasionally far from a shoreline.
• Skerry: A rock tip just above the water's surface.
• Spit: An elongated ridge of sand or pebbles extending into the water.
• Stack: A needle-shaped column resulting from the collapse of an arch.
• Tombolo: A ridge of sand joining an island to the shoreline.

Key Coastal Processes

• Waves, tides, and currents are the key factors in coastline formation.
• Waves erode the land when they crash onto the shore, leaving behind sediments like shells and sand.
• Coastal changes can take centuries.
• The rate of erosion depends on the material's hardness in the land and water.
• Hard rocks like granite create stable coastlines.
• Tides influence where sediment and objects are deposited on the coast.
• Large tidal ranges lead to material deposition further inland.
• High-energy waves carry more sediment.
• Coastlines with big beaches can dissipate wave energy, while small beaches concentrate it.

Coastal Issues

• Coasts are affected by pollution, oil spills, and garbage.
• Pollution negatively impacts marine life and the coastline's appearance.

Weathering Types on Cliffs

• Freeze-thaw weathering can cause cliffs to break down.
• Solution (chemical weathering) breaks down calcium carbonate (limestone) cliffs.
• Plants can contribute to cliff breakdown.