oceanography final

erosional shoreline features + emerging shoreline

erosional shoreline

• sea cave

• sea stack

• sea arch

• marine terrace

• wave-cut bench

• sea cliff

emerging shoreline

• marine terraces

depositional shoreline

depositional shoreline

• tombolo

• sand spit

• baymouth bar

• barrier island

• wide beach

submerging shoreline

• drowned river valley

  • estuary, lagoon, etc.

what are the structures built to protect a coast from erosion or prevent sand movement/build-up? What are the alternatives called?

Hard stablization

• breakwater

• jetty

• groin

• seawalls

alternative (soft stabilization, beach replenishment/nourishment)

• construction restriction

• sand relocations

• structure relocation

jetty

a form of hard stabilization structure that:

• Protect harbor entrances and provide safe passage

• If it wasn't there, the sand would've moved into the passageway and blocked the entrance

breakwater

a form of hard stabilization structure that:

• Parallel - shoreline

• Protect from waves

• Excessive erosion

groins (groin fields)

a form of hard stabilization structure that:

• Perpendicular to the beach

  • Rip rap - large blocky material

• Traps sand upcoast - erosion downstream - longshore current

seawalls

a form of hard stabilization structure that:

• Destructive to environment

• Protect human developments

• Wave activity undermines sea wall

  • Repair or will collapse

coastal region

dynamic boundary between the land meets the sea or a lake. shoreline/coastline:

• an area constantly shaped by waves, currents, and a geology

• includes beaches, marshes, etc.

what are beaches composed of?

beach: a deposit of the shore area

• wave-worked sediment that moves along the wave-cut bench

• shore

  • backshore

    • above the high tide

  • foreshore

    • exposed at low tide

  • berm

    • dry, gently sloping, slightly elevated margin of the beach found at the foot of coastal cliffs or sand dunes

  • beach face

    • the wet, sloping surface that extends exposed during low tide

  • longshore bars

    • sand bars that parallel the coast

  • long shore trough

    • separating the longshore bar from the beach face

how does sand/sediments move along the beach/shoreline/coast?

longshore drift

• main driver of long-distance movement

wave action

current movement

wind

River of Sand

• coastal beaches as dynamic systems moving sand like a river, powerful desert floods of wet sand triggered by heavy rain/hail

erosional shore

• a coastline where wave and current action dominate, removing sediment and shaping features like sea cliffs, wave-cut platforms, and rocky headlands

migrating barrier island

a dynamic, sandy island that naturally moves landward over time, especially as sea levels rise, by processes like:

• overwash

• inlet formation

beach compartments

• a self-contained segment of coastline where sand moves as a system, defined by natural boundaries like headlands or canyons, encompassing sand sources (rivers, bluffs), transport paths (longshore drift), and sinks (dunes, deep offshore areas)

  • consists of three main components

    • a series of rivers that supply sand to a beach

    • the beach itself, where sand is moving due to longshore transport

    • offshore submarine canyons where sand is drained away from the beach

emerging coastline

• forms when land rises relative to sea level (or sea level falls), exposing former sea floor, creating features like marine terraces, sea cliffs, and raised beaches, often on tectonically active coasts (like the U.S. West Coast) or where glaciers melt, causing land to rebound

east coast shoreline of the US

west coast shoreline of the US

Gulf coast shoreline of the US

differences between coastal and ocean salinity/temperature values?

coastal:

• salinity

  • lower overall salinity

• temperature

  • greater seasonal temperature swings

ocean:

• salinity

  • higher and more stable salinity

• temperature

  • vary with latitude

geostraphic currents

• large-scale ocean flows driven by a balance between the horizontal pressure gradient force (water flowing downhill from high to low pressure) and the Coriolis force (Earth's rotation deflecting the flow)

estuary (and the diff kinds) and how theyre formed?

• a partially enclosed coastal area where freshwater from rivers mixes with salty ocean water creating a unique brackish (slightly salty) environment that's incredibly productive, often called the "nurseries of the sea" because they shelter young marine life

marginal sea

• a large body of saltwater partly enclosed by land (islands, archipelagos, peninsulas) that's adjacent to a continent

  • transition zone between coastal and the deep

wetland and the diff kinds of wetlands

an area where land and water meet, saturated with water for enough time to support plants and animals adapted to wet conditions, acting as a transition between dry land and open water

• marshes

• swamps

• bogs

• fens

marine pollution + pollution types

harmful substances like plastics, chemicals, nutrients, and noise into oceans, damaging ecosystems through entanglement, toxicity, eutrophication, ocean acidification, and disrupting marine life's behavior and reproduction

• plastic debris

• chemical/toxic pollution

• temperature pollution

• noise pollution

• nutrient pollution

Non-point Source

pollution with no obvious single source

internal and external processes

internal processes

• earth’s interior heat

• plate tectonics

external processes

• solar energy

• weathering

• erosion

spheres of earth’s natural environment

biosphere - living things

geoshpere - land/rock

hydrosphere - a dynamic body of water

atmosphere - the air/gas

five main oceans?

atlantic ocean

pacific ocean

southern ocean

indian ocean

arctic ocean

three provinces on the ocean floor

continental margin

• shelf

• slop

• rise

deep ocean basin

• abyssal plains

mid-ocean ridges

• mountain chains

global atmospheric circulation patterns

planet’s large scale wind system

• differential heating

• coriolis effect

• headley and ferrel cells

• polar cells

• wind belts

  • tradewinds

  • westerlies

Impact on Climate & Weather

• Wind Belts: Creates consistent wind patterns (Trades, Westerlies, Easterlies).

• Pressure Zones: High-pressure zones (around 30°) are associated with dry climates, while low-pressure zones (equator, 60°) bring rain.

• Storm Systems: Drives weather systems like the jet streams and influences phenomena like El Niño.