Lesson 1 – The Littoral Zone
- A coast is a narrow area forming the boundary between the land and the sea.
- We can refer to this as the littoral zone
- Coasts are the most varied changing areas on Earth that witness various processes
- The littoral zone is one of dynamic equilibrium (ever changing balance
Factors that affect the shape of a coastline
Human Atmospheric Terrestrial Marine
- A system is any set of interrelated components that are connected together to form a
working whole, they can include: inputs, outputs, stores and flows
- Inputs = What enters the system
o Sun’s energy
o Water and sediment from offshore
o Water and sediment from land
- Outputs = What exits the system
o Evaporation
o Water and sediment carried out to sea
- Stores/stocks = Places where matter is held
o Coastal landforms
- Flows/Process/transfers = Physical factors which drive the movement of matter between
stores
o Longshore drift
o Types of erosion
o Types of weathering
o Types of mass movement
o Wave Refraction
- Fluxes = The measurement of the role of flow between stores
There are three types of systems:
2
, - Open = Inputs and outputs of both energy and matter
- Closed = Inputs, transfer and outputs of energy but not of matter
- Isolated – No input or output of energy or matter
The Coastal Zone
1. Onshore
a. The zone on the land where waves have very little, if any, influence. This area
is dominated by sub-aerial processes
2. Backshore
a. Only affected by waves under High/Spring tides and during storm conditions.
Cliffs, beaches and sand dunes may be present. It is the area between high
tide level/high water mark and the landward limit of marine activity
3. Swash zone
a. Varies with tides. Water moves up as swash and down as backwash
4.
5. Intertidal Zone (Area covered by high tide) And Nearshore
a. Waves are modified here, and sediment movement occurs. It consists of the
foreshore and the inshore. Often has intense human activity such as fishing
and leisure
b. Surf Zone
i. Broken waves travel towards the shore. Sediment movement may be
onshore, offshore or along the shore.
c. Breaker Zone
i. The area where waves break. This varies in width depending on the
type of wave reaching the shore
6. Offshore and subtidal zone
a. Waves cease to impact on the seabed. Water depths are greater than half the
wavelength of incoming waves. Limited sediment movement by waves.
Activity is limited to the deposition of sediment. Tidal currents most effective
Lesson 2 – Classification of Coasts
- All coastlines can be divided into similar zones, but not all coastlines have
similar landscapes
- Sections of coast can be classified into different types using a variety of
criteria such as:
1. Sea level/land level rise and fall
2. Erosional and Depositional
3. Marine dominated or land dominated
4. Tidal range
3
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