Coastal Landscapes

11 Key excerpts on "Coastal Landscapes"

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  Landscape Planning

  • Murat Ozyavuz(Author)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • IntechOpen

    (Publisher)

  Ecological Landscape Planning, with a Focus on the Coastal Zone 241 Ecological features and natural resources found in coastal zones, which penetrate from the coastline into the land to a certain degree, have an influence on human life and make it possible for them to benefit from coastal zones in different ways. Among the natural resources in coastal zones are (Arslan, 1988): -Wetted areas and outfall bays, -Alluvial pools, which resemble lagoons in shape, formed in coastal areas following tidal currents, -Natural resources that must be protected for future scientific research, and educational, instructional and social activities, -Arable areas and those areas that are suitable for forestry, -Reserve areas, -Mineral deposits, -Beaches and dunes, -Areas and waters that can be used for recreation, -Visual features. In addition to their natural structures and biological diversities, coasts are an ecosystem in which nature is connected to cultural texture and different types of flora/fauna communities with different characteristics are enabled to live, reproduce and grow. Establishing a strong link between land and sea resources, coastal ecosystems play a key role in regulating the life quality of living creatures. The circle in coastal ecosystems is closely intertwined with and depends heavily on the natural structure of coastal zones, their geological features, their micro-climatic impacts, their hydrologic features, their flora and fauna, their soil structure, human activities, cultural structures and the way human beings use water. Coastal zones are dynamic compositions that can be different depending on the quality and intensity of human activities on them. One of the most significant factors in landscape, population growth has rapidly caused human beings to diversify their demands on coastal resources, which, in turn, has led to an increase in use pressure on unit area.

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  Methods of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment

  • Peter Morris, Riki Therivel, Graham Wood, Peter Morris, Riki Therivel, Graham Wood, Riki Therivel, Graham Wood(Authors)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  An additional and pressing issue facing coastal areas is the predicted sea-level rise associated with climate change. This is particularly so in countries such as Bangladesh and the Netherlands, where wide areas are situated just above sea level. Over the period 1901 to 2010, global mean sea level rose by an average of 0.19 m, and a further likely rise of 0.26 to 0.55 m is predicted by 2100 (IPCC 2014). In England, the Environment Agency (2013) has produced sea-level rise contingencies for up to 2115 for use in flood risk planning. Similarly, the US Ocean Protection Council (2013) have provided guidance for incorporating sea-level rise projections into project planning and decision-making in California up to 2100, which range from 0.1 to 1.67 m. In addition to risks to human life, settlements and agricultural land, rising sea levels threaten the integrity of significant areas of coastal habitat. For instance, Jones et al. (2011) estimated that coastal margin habitats in the UK will decline in area by approximately 8 per cent by 2060, due to coastal erosion, sea-level rise and reduced sediment supply. Moreover, salt marshes that are ‘trapped’ between rising sea levels and fixed sea defences are being lost to coastal squeeze. Loss of salt marsh also threatens the integrity of seawalls (defending low-lying areas) that rely on their wave absorbing power (Möller et al. 2014).

  This chapter provides a description of key coastal landforms, processes and habitats, and summarises relevant legislation and policy. In the context of the pressures faced in the coastal zone, it sets out proposed approaches to scoping environmental investigations, and coastal ecology and geomorphological surveys and studies. It considers typical impacts that arise in the coastal zone, their sources and nature, and methods of impact prediction, as well as options for impact mitigation and the purpose of and approaches to monitoring.

  7.2 Definitions and concepts

  7.2.1 The coastal zone

  Coasts are among the most dynamic parts of the earth’s surface. The land and the sea rarely meet at a constant boundary. The shoreline migrates daily with the tide, changes seasonally, and varies over longer timescales as the coast erodes or accretes, or as sea level changes. Coastal landforms are shaped and reshaped by winds, waves and currents, which in turn vary through time.

  The coast everywhere is an interface between the energy of the sea and the resistance of the land. While there are bare rocky cliffs that will take the full force of a storm without apparently suffering much damage, in most places the energy is absorbed by a beach. This is sometimes a wide beach backed by dunes, or a narrow beach in front of cliffs, or a barrier beach behind which salt marshes can accumulate in a sheltered environment (see Figure 7.1 ). Left alone, coasts will change over time, either building out where sediment accumulates, or moving landward as areas are eroded and the sediment is removed offshore or along the shore.

  For consistency across the geomorphological and ecological disciplines, definition of the seaward and landward limits of the coast uses the concepts of the supralittoral, littoral and sublittoral

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  Coastal Problems

  Geomorphology, Ecology and Society at the Coast

  • Heather Viles, Tom Spencer(Authors)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  This book addresses the causes and manifestations of, and some possible solutions to, a range of coastal problems working from a physical geographical perspective, but one which tries to integrate social and economic dimensions as well. Finding a suitable methodology for investigating the ever more damaging relationship between society and nature is extremely difficult and, as yet, there is no easy solution. Our approach, like others, is imperfect and unbalanced. We aim here to develop a biogeomorphological perspective (Viles, 1988), showing that a solid understanding of the workings of coastal ecological and geomorphological systems is a necessary prerequisite to solving coastal problems. We also acknowledge, however, that coastal management needs equally to tackle the human dimensions of the problems. Our major goal is to point out that coastal problems involve geomorphological, hydrological, ecological and societal phenomena within unique settings (places) and that some sort of holistic approach, however flawed, is needed to tackle such complex problems successfully. We cannot, of course, address all sides of the problem in sufficient and equal detail. In the rest of this chapter we set the scene for the book by amplifying some of the issues introduced above.

  The coastal zone: some fundamental characteristics and principles

  Coasts are dynamic interface zones involving the meeting of atmosphere, land and sea. Within the coastal zone, major movements of sediments and nutrients are powered by waves, tides and currents (in water and air). These movements shape the coastal profile, producing erosional and depositional landforms. The land is no mere passive canvas, however, as rivers bring sediments, freshwater and nutrients down to the coastal zones (Plate 1.1 ), and subaerial weathering and erosion also help to shape the coast. As well as providing a base for many human settlements, the coast is home to some of the world’s most productive and diverse ecosystems. The organisms in the coastal zone are also active participants, forming reefs and aiding sedimentation, as well as providing an important buffer zone and filtering system. All these components are in a fragile balance controlled by physical and biological processes which can easily be upset by natural or human-induced perturbations. In this context it is useful to identify some fundamental characteristics of the coastal zone.

  Coastal hierarchies

  Characteristically, the coastal zone is taken to include the area between the tidal limits as well as the continental shelf and coastal plain (Fig. 1.1 ). Large scale coastal landforms such as capes and embayments, estuaries, deltas, large dunefields and major coral reef complexes properly belong at this scale. Sandwiched between wholely marine and largely terrestrial environments is the intertidal and immediately supratidal shore zone (Fig. 1.2 ). This includes beaches, cliffs, tidal and brackish water wetlands and individual reef communities. Below this scale, and superimposed upon these landforms, are — to take the beach environment as an example — features such as longshore bars and troughs, and beach cusps. These forms in turn provide a base for ripples, rills, swash marks and the bioturbation structures of intertidal organisms. These different scales, with smaller scales nested within larger scales, also have characteristic time-scales associated with them (Table 1.1

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  Geomorphology

  • Mateo Gutierrez(Author)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • CRC Press

    (Publisher)

  11 COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY 1. Introduction 2. Brief history of coastal geomorphology 3. Temporal and spatial scales 4. Sea level variations 5. Waves, currents, and tides 6. Cliff coasts and rocky platforms 7. Coral reef coasts 8. Beaches, barriers, and spits 9. Coastal dunes 10. Mudflats, salt marshes, and mangroves 11. Estuaries and deltas 12. Coastal environments: Uses, management, and risks 11.1 Introduction Bird (2000) defines coastal geomorphology as the study of the evolution of coastal landforms, the processes that affect them, and the changes they undergo. These landforms include cliffs, rocky coastal margins, beaches, dunes, estuaries, lagoons, and deltas. The world’s coastal margins are about 100 m wide and 440,000 km long; humans use them for industrial pur- poses, transportation, and recreation. These human activities profoundly impact these areas. The United Nations estimates that 66% of the world’s population lives within a few kilom- eters of the coast (Pethick, 1984). As a result, food produc- tion, communication, cities, and recreational areas all affect the coast. Coasts have significant problems that include flood- ing, erosion, pollution, and sea level variations that require constant attention. Interdisciplinary studies by coastal engi- neers, oceanographers, and geomorphologists have led to significant advances in coastal management (Stephenson and Brander, 2003). In addition, coasts are constantly changing; the change may be catastrophic or imperceptible. Modifica- tions may occur over decades or centuries but they can also take place in a period of hours or minutes. 11.2 Brief history of coastal geomorphology Prior to the 20th century, research on coastal geomorphology was limited to engineering topics related to coastal erosion (Walker and MacGraw, 2005). Charles Darwin made impor- tant observations on coral reefs and the origin of atolls during his famous voyage on the British ship, the Beagle, in 1835 (Shepard, 1959).

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  Coastal Landscapes of the Mesolithic

  Human Engagement with the Coast from the Atlantic to the Baltic Sea

  • Almut Schülke(Author)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Taylor & Francis

    (Publisher)

  Though connected, these seas are different in character, across space and time, with differing environments and temporalities, due to their different geological, geographical, oceanographic and climatic conditions and developments. Different types of land meet different kinds of seas with varying resources. These shorelines, as a junction between fast and fluid, wet and dry, warm and cold, salty and brackish and so forth, have many different facets and were prioritized and utilized differently at different times. The varying character of coastal zones across geographic regions, their formation and human use through time have had an impact on research traditions and methods, which responded differently to the prehistoric remains preserved in the different areas. As we will see, they create interesting tensions between research landscapes in the different regions.

  The notion ‘landscape’ is complex, and can have many meanings and connotations (Bender 1993; Thomas 2001; David et al. 2014). It can denote a specific geographic area with specific topographic, climatic, environmental and cultural characteristics in the sense of a surface. Or it can be understood more in the sense of a ‘container’, in which cultural and natural characteristics merge with, for example, human actions, reactions and memories. But it can also be applied to denote a relationship between a contemplator and a subject – in the sense of a (world-)view or a concept of understanding surroundings, comprising humans and non-humans (Thomas 2001; Schülke 2016). Either way, the term ‘landscape’ denotes a ‘section’, either as a spatial section and thus a delimited area, or as a culturally/individually defined understanding of a certain surrounding. In the latter sense, ‘landscape’ applies both to past and present situations and understandings. It encompasses the relationship of people to the coast in the Mesolithic period as well as in our, archaeological, contemporary approaches to it. Thus, the main title of this volume Coastal Landscapes of the Mesolithic serves to address not only the manifold coastal areas that were used by Mesolithic people, but also the different understandings of coastal surroundings in the past, as well as the variety of archaeological approaches to the topic.

  For archaeologists, the traces and remains that Mesolithic humans left at coastal sites are the main gateway for exploring how prehistoric people might have used, perceived and interacted with coastal areas or ‘landscapes’ in this period. The study of artefacts and ecofacts, with multidisciplinary methods, can give answers to questions such as those addressed in the invitation to the 2016 workshop ‘The Coastal Landscapes of the Mesolithic’ in Oslo (Schülke et al. 2016; see Preface and Acknowledgements this volume): What kind of activities can be traced at the sites? Why was the coast attractive? How did people interact within, and towards, changing Coastal Landscapes? And, can we discern a change in the relevance of coastal areas through time?

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  The Handbook of Natural Resources, Second Edition, Six Volume Set

  • Yeqiao Wang(Author)
  • 2022(Publication Date)
  • CRC Press

    (Publisher)

  Te coast and its adjacent areas on and of shore are an important part of a local ecosystem as the mixture of fresh water and salt water in estuar- ies provides many nutrients for marine life. However, coasts also face many environmental challenges including natural hazards and human-induced impacts. Currently, more and more issues face coastal managers: coastal storms and coastal habitat loss caused by land use, pollution, sea-level rise, and some other issues are becoming increasingly prominent. Management and protection of coastal environments to achieve the sustainable development of coastal zone are arduous and long-term tasks for humankind. Te coast, which is shaped by a variety of diferent forces, is a complex dynamic system and the coastal environments are also diverse. Due to space limitations, this entry cannot include detailed descriptions for each coastal environment but hopefully it can help the reader gain a general understanding about coastal environments. References 1. McLean, R.F.; Tsyban, A.; Burkett, V.; Codignotto, J.O.; Forbes, D.L.; Mimura, N.; Beamish, R.J.; Ittekkot, V. Coastal zones and marine ecosystems. In Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability; Cambridge University Press: United Kingdom, 2001. 2. Woodrofe, C.D. Introduction. Coasts: Form, Process and Evolution, 1 st Ed.; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2003. 3. Kusky, T. M. Introduction. Te Coast: Hazardous Interactions within the Coastal Environment; Facts on File, Inc.: New York, 2008. 4. Stutz, M.L.; Pilkey, O.H. Open-Ocean Barrier Islands: Global Infuence of Climatic, Oceanographic, and Depositional Settings. J. Coast. Res. 2011, 27 (2), 207–222. 5. Stone, G.W.; McBride, R.A. Louisiana barrier islands and their importance in wetland protec- tion: forecasting shoreline change and subsequent response of wave climate. J. Coast. Res.1998, 14, 900–915. 6. http://www.dep.state.f.us/coastal/habitats/saltmarshes.htm (accessed March 2012).

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  Oceanography

  An Invitation to Marine Science

  • Tom Garrison(Author)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Cengage Learning EMEA

    (Publisher)

  Coasts are classified as erosional coasts (on which erosion dominates) or deposi-tional coasts (on which deposition dominates). Natural rock bridges, tall stacks, and sea caves are found on erosional coasts. Depositional coasts often support beaches, accumulations of loose particles. Generally, the finer the particles on the beach, the flatter its slope. Beaches change shape and volume as a function of wave energy and the balance of sediment input and removal. Coral reefs and estuaries are among the most complex and biologically productive coasts. Hu-man interference with coastal processes has generally accelerated the erosion of coasts near inhabited areas. In the next chapter you’ll learn that the study of oceanogra-phy includes a marvelous variety of living things. The next chapter’s discussion of the general nature and characteristics of marine life will launch us into the biological part of our journey. Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. CHAPTER 12 366 1. I have seen photos of the massive coastal modifications being made in Dubai. What happens when humans modify a coast-line so extensively? The Persian Gulf Emirate of Dubai has embarked on the most extensive human-made coastal developments in the world (Fig-ure 12.38) . Most of the additions were islands shaped like palm trees to maximize waterfront footage. Construction of the first island, Palm Jumeirah, began in June 2001. Shortly after, the Palm Jebel Ali was announced and reclamation work began.

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  Coastal Systems

  • Simon K. Haslett(Author)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • University of Wales Press

    (Publisher)

  section 1.1.1 is very much for the use of physical scientists studying the coast. However, for planning and management purposes, where administration is involved, the coastal zone is much more variably defined. Kay and Alder (2005) give a range of definitions used by various organisations in international and national government. Some definitions are known as distance definitions, whether fixed or variable, where the coastal zone is defined as being so many kilometres landward, and so many nautical miles seaward, of the shoreline. Other definitions do attempt to recognise and incorporate aspects of the working complexity of the coastal zone. In abbreviated form, these include:

  • ‘the coastal waters and the adjacent shorelands strongly influenced by each other, and includes islands, transitional and intertidal areas, salt marshes, wetlands and beaches. The zone extends inland from the shorelines only to the extent necessary to control shorelands, the uses of which have a direct and significant impact on the coastal waters’ (United States Federal Coastal Zone Management Act)
  • ‘as far inland and as far seaward as necessary to achieve the Coastal Policy objectives, with a primary focus on the land-sea interface’ (Australian Commonwealth Coastal Policy)
  • ‘definitions may vary from area to area and from issue to issue, and that a pragmatic approach must therefore be taken’ (United Kingdom Government Environment Committee)
  • ‘the special area, endowed with special characteristics, of which the boundaries are often determined by the special problems to be tackled’ (World Bank Environment Department).

  1.1.2 COASTAL ENERGY SOURCES

  Coasts are not static environments and are in fact highly dynamic, with erosion, sediment transport and deposition all contributing to the continuous physical change that characterises the coast. Such dynamism requires energy to drive the coastal processes that bring about physical change, and all coasts are the product of a combination of two main categories of processes driven by different energy sources (Fig. 1.1 ):

  1. The first category of processes is known as the

     endogenetic processes

     , so-called because their origin is from within the earth. Endogenetic processes are driven by geothermal energy which emanates from the earth’s interior as a product of the general cooling of the earth from its originally hot state, and from radioactive material, which produces heat when it decays. The flux of geothermal energy from the earth’s interior to the surface is responsible for driving continental drift and is the energy source in the plate tectonics theory. Its influence on the earth’s surface, and the coast is no exception, is to generally raise

     relief

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  Wetlands Management

  Assessing Risk and Sustainable Solutions

  • Didem Gökçe(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • IntechOpen

    (Publisher)

  Keywords: environmental information, landscape preference, landscape room, shifting baseline, target scenery, viewing place 1. Introduction Coastal wetlands are located in the terrestrial-aquatic transverse zone and are an important landscape type and ecosystem. These wetlands have high biodiversity, serve as a buffer zone © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. for adjacent upland development, and provide multiple services such as protection of water quality, and flood and erosion control. Furthermore, coastal wetlands provide visual diversity and unique visual character, which significantly influences the well-being of people and their emotional attachment to the environment. For various reasons, half of the world’s wetlands have disappeared since 1990, and therefore, wetlands have become the most threatened land-scape type. Anthropogenic activities can impact the coastal wetland environment in different ways. Furthermore, coastal marshes and swamps are vulnerable to climate change and sea level rise. Land use, economic development demands, reclamation of land from the sea, and natural oceanographic processes can alter the coastal wetland environment. To manage these anthro-pogenic and natural factors, man-made structures have been applied to protect and maintain the intertidal zone. Man-made structures can affect the coastal wetland ecology by reducing coastal area, disrupting natural water flow, and threatening species survival. Furthermore, such structures hinder people close to water, change the visual perception of the landscape, decrease the esthetic value, and weaken the environmental attachment for local people. Although support for wetland conservation is strong, wetlands are disappearing.

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  Discovering Physical Geography

  • Alan F. Arbogast(Author)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  If the top of the arch collapses, an isolated sea stack remains, such as the one to the left. Note the tilted rock strata. 450 CHAPTER 19 Coastal Processes and Landforms Depositional Coastlines We have just seen how coastlines are shaped by erosion and some of the diagnostic landforms that result from this process. Now, let’s turn to the coastal landforms created when sediment is deposited in various ways and places. You were briefly intro- duced to this concept with the formation of a pocket beach be- tween two eroding headlands (Figure 19.14c). Coastlines in the process of extending outward into the water through deposi- tion are said to be undergoing progradation. Beaches The part of the coastal landscape people are probably most familiar with is the beach. Beaches are dynamic places where sediment is deposited through the combination of waves, beach drift, and wind. In some places, beaches are supplied with alluvial sands derived from land far inland. The beach is a transition between the water and the landmass and consists of exposed, unconsolidated sediments that usually range from sand to cobbles. Although finer silt and clay-sized particles are sometimes contained within a beach, they are usually carried away in suspension by the longshore current. Most beach growth occurs during the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere when the weather is relatively calm. In winter, however, beaches can be significantly eroded due to large waves created by strong storms. If you happen to live on or near a beach, notice how the shape of the beach can change between seasons. Figure 19.21 shows how beach components are differenti- ated on the basis of their relative position to the water. The offshore is permanently submerged and is the zone where waves break and the surf is most active.

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  The Maritime Traditions of the Fishermen of Socotra, Yemen

  • Julian Jansen van Rensburg(Author)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Archaeopress

    (Publisher)

  55 Chapter 7 The Maritime Landscape The maritime landscape embodies both physical and cognitive aspects of human interaction with the maritime and terrestrial landscape (Westerdahl 1992; Hunter 1994; Jasinski 1994; Parker 2001; Cooney 2003; Westerdahl 2008). Consequently, when studying the maritime landscape of Socotra it is also necessary to understand how fishermen interact and perceive various physical features in the landscape. The aim of this chapter is to look at how the maritime landscape is used by the fishermen of Socotra to name and identify fishing areas and navigate. Firstly, this chapter outlines the physical topography of the land and sea of the Socotra archipelago. Secondly it looks at the physical topography of the land and sea at individual fishing villages. The aim of this is to demonstrate the similarities and differences between the villages of the north and south coast, and look at how the fishermen in these villages perceive and use the landscape. This section will focus on two themes, namely: how the fishermen use the landscape to name and identify their fishing areas and how they use their knowledge and experience of the maritime landscape to navigate. The Physical Landscape The island of Socotra is approximately 135 kilometres in length and 42 kilometres in width and has a surface area of 3650 square kilometres (Othman 1966: 204). This surface area is physiographically diverse in nature, with almost every area of the island having its own distinct characteristics. Notwithstanding this diversity it is possible to divide the island into three areas based on the predominant landforms. The first and most striking of these is the central mountains, whose spires of granite are a central feature of Socotra’s landscape. These mountains are surrounded by the second landform, a series of rugged limestone plateaus. These are criss-crossed by a series of valleys and non-permanent streams that run down toward the coast.

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