The shoreline is where the land meets the sea and it is continually changing. From a risk point of view, coastal erosion is the most widespread and continuous process. However, catastrophic events play a very significant role (tsunami, hurricane and storm surge), both for coastal erosion and human damage. Shore A shore or shoreline is the land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. ... The tsunami that struck Malé in the Maldives on December 26, 2004. ... This article is about weather phenomena. ... ...

In Europe, coastal erosion is widespread (at least 70%) distributed very irregularly.

Erosion and accretion

Extraordinary processes

Tsunamis

Tsunamis, potentially enormous waves often caused by earthquakes, have great erosional and sediment-reworking potential. They may strip beaches of sand that may has taken years to accumulate and may destroy trees and other coastal vegetation. Tsunamis are also capable of flooding hundreds of meters inland past the typical high-water level, and fast-moving water associated with the inundating tsunami can crush homes and other coastal structures. The tsunami that struck Malé in the Maldives on December 26, 2004. ... This article is about waves in the most general scientific sense. ... An earthquake is a phenomenon that results from the sudden release of stored energy in the Earths crust that creates seismic waves. ... Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. For erosion as understood by materials science, see Erosion (materials science) For erosion as an English analogy, see Erosion (figurative) For erosion as an operation of Mathematical morphology, see Erosion (morphology) Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil... Sediment is any particulate matter that can be transported by fluid flow and which eventually is deposited as a layer of solid particles on the bed or bottom of a body of water or other liquid. ... Patterns in the sand Sand is a granular material made up of fine rock particles. ... A flood (in Old English flod, a word common to Teutonic languages; compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float) is an overflow of water, an expanse of water submerging land, a deluge. ...

Storm surges and hurricanes

A storm surge is an onshore gush of water associated with a low pressure weather system. The most extreme storm surges result from extreme weather systems, such as tropical cyclones or hurricanes, but storm surges can also be produced by less powerful storms. Storm surges can cause beach accretion and erosion.[1] Image File history File links http://earthobservatory. ... Image File history File links http://earthobservatory. ... ... A large low-pressure system swirls off the southwestern coast of Iceland, illustrating the maxim that nature abhors a vacuum. ... This article is very long Some browsers may have difficulty rendering this article. ... This article is about weather phenomena. ...

Historically notable storm surges occurred during the North Sea Flood of 1953, Hurricane Katrina, and the 1970 Bhola cyclone. The North Sea flood of 1953 and the associated storm combined to create a major natural disaster which affected the coastlines of the Netherlands and England on the night of 31 January 1953 – 1 February 1953. ... Lowest pressure 902 mbar (hPa; 26. ... Lowest pressure Unknown Damages Unknown Fatalities 500,000 direct (Deadliest tropical cyclone of all time) Areas affected Bangladesh Part of the 1970 North Indian cyclone season The Bhola cyclone was a powerful tropical cyclone that made landfall in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) on 13 November 1970. ...

Gradual processes

The gradual evolution of beaches often comes from the interaction of longshore drift, a waven-driven process by which sediments move along a beach shore, and other sources of erosion or accretion, such as nearby rivers. In geography, longshore drift (LSD) (shore drift or littoral drift) is a process by which sediments move along a beach shore. ...

Deltas (Rhône, Ebro, Nile)

Deltas are nourished by alluvial systems and accumulate sand and silt, growing where the sediment flux from land is large enough to avoid complete removal by coastal currents, tides, or waves. Most modern deltas formed during the last five thousand years, after the present sea-level high stand was attained. However, not all sediment remains permanently in place: in the short term (decades to centuries), exceptional river floods, storms or other energetic events may remove significant portions of delta sediment or change its lobe distribution and, on longer geological time scales, sea-level fluctuations lead to destruction of deltaic features. The Rhônes course. ... The Ebro (Greek: Έβρος, Latin: Iberus, Spanish: Ebro, Catalan: Ebre) is Spains most voluminous and second longest river. ... The Nile (Arabic: ‎, translit: , Ancient Egyptian iteru, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river, though not the most voluminous, in the world. ... Alluvium is soil land deposited by a river or other running water. ... Patterns in the sand Sand is a granular material made up of fine rock particles. ... Silt is soil or rock derived granular material of a specific grain size. ...

Historical accretion of European beaches

Main stages of Holocene evolution of the Rhone delta

In the Mediterranean sea, deltas have been continuously growing during for the last several thousand years. Six to seven thousand years ago, the sea level stabilized, and continuous river systems, ephemeral torrents, and other factors began this steady accretion. Since intense human use of coastal areas is a relatively recent phenomenon (except in the Nile delta), beach contours were primarily shaped by natural forces until the last centuries. Composite satellite image of the Mediterranean Sea. ... Delta may refer to: Look up delta in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Nile (Arabic: ‎, translit: , Ancient Egyptian iteru, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river, though not the most voluminous, in the world. ...

In Barcelona, for example, the accretion of the coast was a natural process until the late middle ages. At that time, the initiation of harbour-building increased the rate of accretion. Location Coordinates : Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer: CEST (GMT +2) General information Native name Barcelona (Catalan) Spanish name Barcelona Nickname Ciutat Comtal (Catalan) Ciudad Condal (Spanish) Postal code 08001–08080 Area code 34 (Spain) + 93 (Barcelona) Website http://www. ...

The port of Ephesus, one of the great cities of the Ionian Greeks in Asia Minor, was filled with sediment due to accretion from a nearby river; it is now 5km from the sea. Likewise, Ostia, the once-important port near ancient Rome, is now several kilometers inland, the coastline having moved slowly seaward. Historical Map of Ephesus, from Meyers Konversationslexikon 1888 Ephesus (Greek: , Turkish: ), was one of the great cities of the Ionian Greeks in Asia Minor, located in Lydia where the Cayster River (Küçük Menderes) flows into the Aegean Sea (in modern day Turkey). ... The Temple to Athena, the Parthenon Ancient Greece is a period in Greek history that lasted for around three thousand years. ... Anatolia (Greek: ανατολη anatole, rising of the sun or East; compare Orient and Levant, by popular etymology Turkish Anadolu to ana mother and dolu filled), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Nickname: The Eternal City Motto: SPQR: Senatus PopulusQue Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area    - City 1285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban...

Bruges, an port during the early middle ages, was accessible from the sea until around 1050. At that time, however, the natural link between Bruges and the sea silted up. In 1134, a storm flood caused a deep channel, the Zwin, to appear, and the city remained linked to the sea until the fifteenth century via a canal from the Zwin to Bruges. But Bruges had to use a number of outports, such as Damme and Sluis, for this purpose. In 1907, a new sea-port was inaugurated in Zeebrugge. Bruges called Brugge by its native Dutch language name which assumedly used to signify landing stage, is the capital of the province of West Flanders in present-day Flanders, the Flemish Region of Belgium. ... Sea lavender blossoms in august-september The Zwin is a natural reserve with an area of 1. ... Damme church Damme is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. ... Sluis is a municipality and a town in the southwestern Netherlands in the west of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. ... The church of Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (French: Zeebruges) is a harbour-town at the coast of Belgium, a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. ...

Modern recession of beaches

At the present important segment of low coasts are in recession, losing sand and reducing the beaches' dimensions. This loss could occur very rapidly. From more to less natural causes (degree of anthropization downwards):

Sete

The coast recession near Sete is related with coastal drift sand supply interruption due to growth of the Rhone delta, which (like most deltas) is becoming independent of the rest of the coast. The present lido shoreline is 210 meters away from the roman lido. Sète is a commune of France, in the Hérault département. ... Lido and the Venetian Lagoon. ...

California beaches

California's beaches and other shoreline features change according to the availability of beach sand, the wave and current energy impinging on the coast, and other physical processes that affect the movement of sand. A constant supply of sand is necessary for beaches to form and be maintained along this shoreline. Many human activities, including dam construction and river channelization, have reduced the supply of sand that reaches the ocean. This, in turn, has prevented beaches from being replenished and has thus created greater vulnerability for shorelines that have always been subject to varying levels of erosion. There are few practical solutions to improving sand supply from inland sources, so management of shoreline erosion will likely continue to focus at the land/sea interface along the California coastline.

Construction of breakwaters, jetties, or groyne fields to protect harbor entrances, maintain beaches, or protect coastal structures have both helped and harmed the movement of sand along the shoreline. Protective structures trap sand and allow beaches to expand up-coast from the device, but can interrupt the flow of sand to beaches located down-coast. Coastal lagoons fronted by barrier spits typically have entrances that migrate through time. ... A groyne on the East coast of England Wikimedia Commons has more media related to: Groyne A groyne (groin in the United States) is a method of coastal defense against erosion. ...

Southern California beach 10/97 (before winter El Nino storms)

Same location 4/98 (after winter El Nino storms)

Poland

During the last glaciation, the Baltic Polish area was covered in ice and associated morainal sediments. Deglaciation left an substantial amount of unconsolidated sediment. Currently, these unconsolidated sediments are strongly eroded and reworked by the sea. A glaciation (a created composite term meaning Glacial Period, referring to the Period or Era of, as well as the process of High Glacial Activity), often called an ice age, is a geological phenomenon in which massive ice sheets form in the Arctic and Antarctic and advance toward the equator. ...

Aveiro

The North Portuguese coast and its beaches were fed by large Iberian rivers. The massive building of dams in the Douro River basin has cut the sediment supply to the Aveiro coast, resulting in its recession. Hard protective works have been done all along. View of the river mouth from Portos Crystal Palace Gardens, facing West Douro (Latin Durius, Spanish Duero, Portuguese Douro) is one of the major rivers of Portugal and Spain, flowing from its source near Soria across central Spain and Portugal to its outlet at Oporto. ... Location    - Country Portugal    - Region Centro  - Subregion Baixo Vouga  - District or A.R. Aveiro Mayor Élio Maia  - Party PSD-CDS Area 199. ...

Holland

Holland coast

The Holland coast consists of sandy, multi-barred beaches and can be characterised as a wave-dominated coast. Approximately 290km of the coast consists of dunes and 60 km is protected by structures such as dikes and dams. With the melting of the ice the coastline shifted eastward until about 5000 years ago the present position of the Dutch coastline was reached. During stagnating sea level rise, the sand supply decreased and the formation of the beach ridges has been stopped, ater on when seawater breaks through the dune row, during storms, men started to defend the land by building primitive dikes and walls. The dunes, together with the beach and the shore face, offer a natural, sandy defence to the sea. About 30% of the Netherlands lies below sea level. Dyke (normal International spelling) or Dike (normal American spelling) can mean several things: A dyke / dike is a long wall built to keep out the sea or enclose land. ... DAMS is a racing team from France, involved in many areas of motorsports. ... For the Frank Herbert novel, see Dune (novel) Mesquite Flat Dunes in Death Valley National Park In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by eolian processes. ...

Holland coast recession

Over the last 30 years, approximately 1 million m3/yr of sand has been lost from the Holland coast on deep water. In most northern coastal sections, erosion occurs on deep water and in the nearshore zone. In most southern sections, sedimentation occurs in the nearshore zone and erosion on deep water. Structural erosion is due to sea level rise and, in some spots, it is caused by harbour dams. The Holland coast as a single unit shows erosive behaviour. Approximately 12 million m3 of sand is transferred annually from the North Sea to the Wadden Sea as a result of relative rising sea level and coastal erosion.

Relative sea level changes

Several geological events and climate can change (progressively or suddenly) the relative height of the Earth's surface to the sea-level. The coastline is continuouly changing by these events or processes. For considerations of sea level change, in particular rise associated with possible global warming, see sea level rise. ...

Extraordinary processes

Earthquakes

Some earthquakes can create sudden variations of relative ground level and change the coastline dramatically. Structurally controlled coasts include the San Andreas fault zone in California and the seismic Mediterranean belt (from Gibraltar to Greece). Global earthquake epicenters, 1963–1998. ... View of the San Andreas Fault on the Carrizo Plain in central California, 35°07N, 119°39W The San Andreas Fault is a geological fault that runs a length of roughly 800 miles (1300 kilometres) through western and southern California in the United States. ...

Pozzuoli, Italy, experienced hundreds of tremors between August 1982 and December 1984. This photo reflects the old sea level mark before these tremors.

The tremors, which reached a peak on October 4, 1983, damaged 8,000 buildings in the city center and raised the sea bottom by almost 2m. This rendered the Bay of Pozzuoli too shallow for large craft and required teh reconstruction of the harbour with new quays. This photo shows the new quay.

Pozzuoli is a city of the province of Napoli, in the Italian region of Campania. ... Pozzuoli is a city of the province of Napoli, in the Italian region of Campania. ...

Volcanism

Volcanic activity can create new islands. Surtsey Island, Iceland, for example, was created between November of 1963 and June of 1967. The 800m-diameter island has since been partially eroded by waves, rain, and wind, but it is expected to last another 100 years. Surtsey, sixteen days after the onset of the eruption Surtsey (Icelandic: Surturs island) is a volcanic island off the southern coast of Iceland. ...

Gradual processes: subsidence and uplift

Saint Mark's Square, Venice, during flooding

Subsidence is the motion of the Earth's surface downward relative to the sea level due to internal geodynamic causes. The opposite of subsidence is uplift, which results in an increase in elevation. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1965x1512, 1946 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Venice Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1965x1512, 1946 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Venice Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... A road destroyed by subsidence and shear. ... Look up uplift in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Venice is likely the best-known example of a subsiding location. It experiences periodic flooding when tides or surges arrive. This phenomenon is caused by the compaction of young sediments in the Po river delta area, magnified by water and gas subsurface exploitation. Man-made works to solve this progressive sinking have been unsuccessful. Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venezsia) is the capital of region Veneto, and has a population of 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). ... PO may stand for: Pareto optimality Parole Officer Per os, Latin for by mouth or orally Perfect Orange a third wave ska based in Knoxville, TN from 2002-2005 Petty Officer, a Non-Commissioned Officer Rank in many Navies Pilkington Optronics, now Thales Optronics Pilot Officer, a junior commissioned rank...

Mälaren, the third-largest lake in Sweden, is an example of deglacial uplift. It was once a bay on which seagoing vessels were once able to sail far into the interior of Sweden, but it ultimately became a lake. Its uplift was caused by deglaciation: the removal of the weight of ice-age glaciers caused rapid uplift of the depressed land. For 2,000 years as the ice was unloaded, uplift proceeded at about 7.5 cm/year. Once deglaciation was complete, uplift slowed to about 2.5 cm/year, and it decreased exponentially after that. Today, typical uplift rates are 1 cm/year or less, and studies suggest that rebound will continue for about another 10,000 years. The total uplift from the end of deglaciation may be up to 400 m. Location map Mälaren details, with Stockholm urban area to the right in pink. ...

See also

• Coastal management
• Coastal erosion
• Longshore drift
• Coastal geography

Oosterscheldekering sea wall, the Netherlands. ... Coastal erosion is a process which affects the landmass of an area as a consequence of the sea acting upon it. ... In geography, longshore drift (LSD) (shore drift or littoral drift) is a process by which sediments move along a beach shore. ... Coastal geography is the study of the dynamic interface between the ocean and the land, incorporating both the physical geography(i. ...

External Links

• Delta-Global Change Program
• Mediterranean Prodelta Systems
• EUROSION project web site