GEG 120 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Aggradation, Hydraulic Action, Longshore Drift
14 May 2013
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Document Summary
How coastal landscapes were formed and continue to be reshaped. Coast: strip of land where coastal processes combine to form characteristic of landscapes. Shore (shoreline): narrower belt of land containing the ever-changing contact border between land and water. Generated by the wind (energy of mving air tranfered to the water surface) Large waves from when wind velocity is high, direction is persistent, duration is protracted, and fetch (distance over which wind blows) is long. Ocean waves are the dominant erosional agents in shaping coastal landforms. Ocean surface typically marked by long rolling waves (swells) Wave height: vertical distance between crest and trough. Swells do not move the water surface: passing wave throws the water into an orbital motion (circular up and down waves of oscillation) Swells maintain their energy and can travek great distances. When they approach shore and enter shallower water, orbital motion is disrupted when seabed felt
