What Type of Landform Is a Coast?
- Emergent coasts are the types of coasts that emerge due to a drop in sea levels. The drop in sea level may be a global one or it could be restricted to a local vicinity. Examples of emergent coasts include raised beaches and marine terraces. Marine terraces are wave-shaped platforms located at the bottom of sea cliffs or along the shores of lakes or seas. Another type of emergent coast is a dune. A dune is a hill-like structure made from accumulated sand shaped by the wind. These dunes run along shorelines directly inland from beaches.
- Submergent coasts are the opposite of emergent coasts. These types of coasts are usually drenched by rising sea levels. Types of submerged coasts include estuaries, fjords and rias. An estuary is a semi-enclosed body of water, which serves as a point for streams and rivers to flow into the sea. A rias is a partially submerged river valley. A fjord is the result of the abrasive activities of glaciers on surrounding bedrock.
- Some coastal features include the action of sediment, leading to the formation of coastal forms like beaches and shoals. A beach is a coast that is formed from the accumulation of loose particles made up of things like gravel, sand, cobblestones, shingle and pebbles. The sediments are deposited by the actions of waves and currents. A shoal is a narrow strip of landform extending into a body of water, or located within the body of water. Some examples of the bodies of water where shoals may be formed include rivers, lakes and seas. The land form is composed of materials deposited by moving water. Some of the materials include cobble, pebbles, soil and shingle.
- Erosion occurs when material like rock, sand, silt, sediment and other types of particles are moved from their locations to another location. This is one of the processes that help shape coastlines. Other processes include currents, tides, the salinity of the water and changes in sea level.