Oceans and Coastal Processes (II)

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers erosional and depositional coastal landforms, wave mechanics, coastal wetlands, and coral reef formation based on the lecture notes.

Wave Refraction

The process where waves bend as they approach the shore at an angle because the part that encounters the bottom slows down.

Headlands

Protruding coastal features where wave energy is concentrated and refracted wave fronts converge.

Sea Cave

A coastal feature formed by erosion in weak or fractured rock along a promontory.

Sea Stack

An isolated pillar of rock formed when continued erosion leads to the collapsed roof of a sea cave.

Wave-cut platform

A terrace or bench-like feature carved by wave erosion at the base of a sea cliff.

Beach

A place along a coast where sediment, such as silica sand or black lava sand, is in motion.

Rip Current

Backwash flowing directly out to sea in a concentrated column; swimmers should swim sideways to escape.

Longshore Current

A current created by wave refraction on straight coasts that transports sediment along the beach.

Barrier Spit

A ridge of sand that extends out from a coast, often across the entrances to bays.

Baymouth Spit

A spit that completely closes off a bay, creating a lagoon isolated from the ocean; also known as a bay barrier.

Tombolo

A spit that connects the shore with an island or sea stack.

Barrier Island

A long, narrow depositional feature that forms offshore roughly parallel to the coast and moves toward the continent.

Mangrove Swamps

Coastal wetlands found south of the $30^{th}$ parallel in the northern hemisphere where roots anchor in sediment.

Salt Marshes

Coastal wetlands found north of the $30^{th}$ parallel in the northern hemisphere containing halophytic plants.

Halophytic

A term describing salt-tolerant plants typically found in salt marshes.

Coral

A simple marine invertebrate that secretes $CaCO_3$ to form a hard exoskeleton and lives in a symbiotic relationship with algae.

Fringing Reef

The initial stage of reef formation that develops directly around a volcanic island.

Barrier Reef

A reef separated from a sinking volcanic island by a lagoon.

Atoll

A circular reef surrounding a lagoon that remains after a volcano sinks below sea level.

Shoreline Protection Structures

Engineering approaches to shoreline problems including sea walls, groins, breakwaters, and jetties.