GEOG 1290 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Longshore Drift, Refraction, Tombolo
16 Dec 2017
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Document Summary
Coastal processes shifting line of contact between the land and water. Coastline (coast) - zone in which coastal processes operate or have a strong influence of water protected from strong wave action due to the shape of the coast. Estuary - where fresh water and saline ocean water mix (e. g. , river mouth) resulting in a unique habitat. Water becomes shallow, wave height increases because wave length decreases. Beach - wedge shaped deposit of sand sliding up beach. Backwash - water flowing back down beach to sea. Beach drift - sideways motion of sand along shoreline as a result of oblique swash and seaward backwash. Longshore drift - sideways movement of sand/sediment due to the longshore current parallel to coast. Littoral - pertaining to coast or shore. Close to coast, water gets more shallow. If waves arrive at an angle, one part is slower than the rest. Causes waves to bend = wave refraction.
