CAS ES 142 Chapter 1-2: ES142 Ch 1 and 2

• School: Boston University
• Department: Earth Sciences
• Course: CAS ES 142
• Professor: Peter Fitzgerald

Document Summary

Coastal zone: any part of the land that is influenced by some marine conditions (tides, winds, biota, salinity) Coast is global in distribution but limited in width. Tectonics of the earth"s crust influence coastal zones. Coasts near plate boundaries have more relief and are narrow. Open coasts (two categories): dominantly erosional and primarily depositional. Erosional coasts: extensive, have considerable variety, tend to be narrow, typically high relief/rocky. Depositional coasts: include a wide spectrum of river deltas, barrier island systems, strandplain costs, reef coasts, and glaciated coats. Climatic effects: temperature and rainfall exert major influence on coastal development. Extreme/high altitudes: coastal areas tend to be covered with ice. Desert conditions: dominated by huge sand dunes (ex: namibia: the arid, low latitude environment produces extensive coastal environments called sabkhas that are nearly at sea level and have an almost horizontal surface, coastal environments. Delta: net accumulation of sediment at a river mouth.