UK, Blackwell Publishing. – July 15, 2004. – 419 p.ISBN 0-632-04308-3Coastlines of the world are as diverse as any geological setting on Earth. Beaches and Coasts is an exciting and unique new textbook that provides an exhaustive treatment of the world's different coasts and details the highly varied processes that have shaped them.
Having conducted research on coastlines throughout the world, the authors draw on a wealth of experience that broadens the content of chapters and provides for numerous and varied examples. The book furnishes a basic understanding of the tectonic framework, hydrographic regime, climatic setting, and geologic materials that determine the morphology of a coast. Individual chapters are devoted to major coastal environments such as barriers, tidal inlets, marshes, estuaries, lagoons, deltas, glaciated coasts, rocky coasts and many others.
Beaches and Coasts provides the necessary content for teaching a broad coastal geology course. Though designed for introductory students, its comprehensive treatment of coastal topics will make it appropriate for many upper level courses.Coastline variability and functions in the global environment
Introduction
Coastal settings
Population and the coast
General coastal conditions
Coastal environments
Historical trends in coastal research
The Earth’s mobile crust
Introduction
The Earth’s interior
Plate boundaries
Continental margins
Tectonic coastline classification
Tectonic effects on coastal sediment supply
Summary
Sediments and rocks: materials of coastal environments
Introduction
Rock types
Sediment texture
Mineralogy
Summary
Sea-level change and coastal environments
Introduction
Changing the size and shape of the container: tectonic causes
Climate and sea-level change
Sea-level rise due to sediment compaction and fluid withdrawal
Isostasy
Changes in the volume of the world ocean
Holocene rise in sea level
Current and future sea-level changes
The impact of increasing sea-level rise on-modem coastal environments
Summary Suggested reading
Weather systems, extratropical storms, and hurricanes
Introduction
Basic atmospheric circulation and weather patterns
Mid-latitude storms
Hurricanes and tropical storms
Summary
Waves and the coast
Introduction
Water motion and wave propagation
Wind wave types
Distribution and transfer of wave energy
Other types of waves
Wave-generated currents
Summary
Beach and nearshore environment
Introduction
Beach and nearshore morphology
Beach types
Beach materials
Beach dynamics
Summary
Barrier systems
Introduction
Physical description
Distribution and coastal setting
Barrier types
Prograding, retrograding, and aggrading barriers
Barrier stratigraphy
Barrier coast morphology
Barrier coasts: morphology and evolution
Summary
Coastal dunes
Introduction
Types of coastal dunes and their distribution
Dune formation
Dune dynamics
Summary
Coastal lagoons
Introduction
Definition
Morphology and setting
General characteristics
Example lagoons
Summary
Tides of the ocean
Introduction
Tide-generating forces
Equilibrium tide
Interaction of the Sun and the Moon
Effects of orbital geometry
Effects of partitioning oceans
Tidal signatures
Tides in shallow water
Summary
Tidal inlets
Introduction
What is a tidal inlet?
Inlet morphology
Tidal inlet formation
Tidal inlet migration
Tidal inlet relationships
Sand transport patterns
Tidal inlet effects on adjacent shorelines
Summary
Intertidal flats
Introduction
Morphology of tidal flats
Sediments
Organisms
Sedimentary structures
Tidal flat processes
Tidal channels
Some examples
Summary
Coastal wetlands
Introduction
Salt marshes
Mangrove coasts
Summary
Estuaries
Introduction
Estuarine hydrology
Classification of estuaries
Estuarine processes
Time-velocity relationships
Model estuary
Estuary types
Summary
River deltas: the source of most of our coastal sediments
Introduction
How deltas develop
Deltas and sea level
Delta environments
Delta processes
Delta classification
Summary
Glaciated coasts
Introduction
The world’s glaciers
Pleistocene glaciation
Glacial effects on coastlines
Examples of glaciated coastlines
Summary
Rocky coasts
Introduction
Types and distribution
Erosional processes
Factors affecting rates of erosion
Morphology
Summary
Reef coasts
Introduction
General reef characteristics
Algal stromatolite reefs
Oyster reefs
Worm reefs
Vermitid gastropod reefs
Coral-algal reefs
Coral reef deterioration from human activities
Summary
Coastal erosion
Introduction
Causes of erosion
Coastal erosion factors
Example scenarios of coastal erosion
Summary
Human interaction with coastal dynamics
Introduction
Construction on the coast
Mining the coast
Water quality
Summary
Glossary
