Coastal Oceans Lecture 13

10/26/2011 10:57:00 AM

Coastal Zone Land area affected by marine processes Coastal zone: included both land and water such as bays and estuaries Coastal water support 95% of total biomass in ocean Important for shipping, oil, gas production and recreation Pollutants found here High nutrient from coastal runoff, rivers and upwelling Coastal Zone-impacted by water from high tide line to low tide line, where rivers meet the sea, and whats physically affected is wave energy Classification of Coasts 1 Primary vs. Secondary coasts primary: young coasts along which terrestrial processes dominate(river inflow, tectonics, uplift, submergence, volcanic activity, glacial activity) secondary: older coasts extensively modified by marine processes (wave action) Classification of Coasts 2 All shores experience a combination of erosion and deposition 1. The US Pacific coast is primarily erosional because it is undergoing tectonic uplift and has well-developed cliffs 2. The US southeast Atlantic coast and Gulf Coast are depositional coasts with sand deposits and barrier islands Transport of Sediments by Wave Action rock particles are eroded from one area and deposited elsewhere. Wave refraction affects this process Beach drift o Swash and backwash rarely occur in exactly opposite directions o Upward movement occurs at some oblique angle o Backward movement Erosion of coastlines in US are eroding more on the east coast then west coast. Reasons include anthropogenic affects, or by natural means Classification: Erosion

Features of an erosional coast low tide Wave erosion of a sea cliff produces a shelf like wave-cut platform visible at low tide Headlands: waves concentrated at headlands, and sets up cutting into and cliffs on coast. Energy is dissipated at headland Selective Erosion Wave energy converges on headlands and diverges in the adjoining bays. The accumulation of sediment derived from the headland in the tranquil bays eventually smoothes the contours of the shore Features on Depositional Coast Sand split forms where the longshore current slows and approaches a quiet bay bay mouth bar forms when a sand split closes off a bay by attaching to headland adjacent to the bay Depositional coasts can also develop narrow, exposed sandbars that are parallel to but separated from land-barrier island Long, shallow body of seawater isolated from the ocean-lagoon Classification of Coasts 3 Submerging Shoreline-US Atlantic Coast exposed to storm waves, barrier islands Emerging shorelines-US Pacific Coast, less sediment derivered by rivers, tectonic activity Emerging/Submerging Local subsidence can be caused by tectonic and isostatic Changes in sea level ice build up-glaciation ice melting-deglaciation Eustatic changes: changes in global sea level increase in 1C, sea level rise 6ft About 120m (400ft) change in sea level rise during last glacial maximum Changes in sea floor spreading, slower, increases sea level and vice versa Anthropogenic stabilization: changes to coastline to protect structures or to build coastline or beaches or sediment Jetties: protect harbor entrances perpendicular to coast

 Groins: designed to trap sand perpendicular to coast Breakwaters-built beyond the surf zone parallel to coast Seawalls: built to armor coast parallel to coast estuary is a narrow, semi-enclosed coastal body of water which has a free connection with the open sea at least intermittently and within which the salinity of the water is measurably different from the salinity in the open ocean estuary: Vertically mixed: salinity increases at mouth of estuary, no vertical difference, more shallow estuary Slightly stratified: outgoing river flow on top, sea water incoming on bottom, salinity increase towards ocean, Highly stratified Salt wedge: heavy/dominate river flow, not sea water flow

Sea water come in landward and entrainment-denser water form below is mixed upward into the upper layer Richardson number: 0.08-mixed 0.25-partialy mixed >0.25-highly stratisfied things change when going from freshwater to seawater Null Zone: no movement, little activity and flow, particles stay in suspension and aggregate and clay particles stick together when they react form river water to sea water, pollutants tend to concentrate there too, most remain in suspension, some settle out

10/26/2011 10:57:00 AM

10/26/2011 10:57:00 AM