Waves, Beaches & Coasts
Significance of Oceans
> 70% of Earth’s Surface.
Unique to Earth.
Where Life Developed.
Probably almost as old as the Earth.
Importance of Oceanic Crust in Plate
Tectonics.
Resource Utilization.
Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions mediate
climate & act as a buffer (esp. CO2).
Pollution Concerns.
Origin of the Oceans
Early Earth probably had “ocean” basins.
Today’s ocean basins were created by
seafloor spreading:
Ocean basins are continually changing;
Oldest oceanic crust ~180 m.y.
Oceans open and close regularly.
Origin of water – outgassing of the mantle
after surface was below the boiling point
of water.
Sea Level
Average level of the sea worldwide.
NOT CONSTANT – it continuously
changes (e.g., glaciations, mid-ocean ridge
volume). This is important for interpreting
geologic history.
Shorelines of today are geologically very
new!
Types of Sea Level Change
(a) Eustatic: change in volume of liquid water
worldwide. Glaciation lowers sea level by
~130 m. Exposes continental shelves to
weathering and erosion.
Global warming = melting of ice = eustatic
increase in sea level.
(b) Tectonic: movement of crust relative to sea
level – more local than (a). For example, uplift
of region due to tectonism (e.g., Himalayas);
isostatic rebound (e.g., Hudson Bay).
Major Constituents of Sea Water (g/kg)
Chloride Cl- 19.35%
Sodium Na+ 10.76%
Sulfate SO42- 2.71%
Magnesium Mg2+ 1.29%
Calcium Ca2+ 0.41%
Potassium K+ 0.39%
Bicarbonate HCO3- 0.14%
Bromide Br- 0.067%
Everything Else < 0.01
Total Dissolved Solids ~ 30.3%
Movement of Water
Very important for ocean transportation
(trade), sediment transport, climates.
Water is set in motion by:
1) Waves;
2) Tides;
3) Currents.
Quintana, TX
Beach homes that
were built too
close to the ocean.
Sand is removed
from the beach by
storm waves.
1) Waves.
Most waves are generated by wind.
Amplitude depends on wind velocity and persistence.
Period: time required for two successive crests or two
successive troughs to pass a point in space.
Wavelength (L): the distance between adjacent points on a
wave that are in phase (i.e., moving in the same direction &
displaced the same distance from the undisturbed water level.
Wave motion: water is moving in an orbit, wave
propagation is moving energy forward, not the water mass.
As wave propagates, particles move in an orbit and return to
roughly the same place (objects bob up and down).
Waves “feel” only down to L/2.
Waves in water where D > L/2 = deep water waves and are
unaffected by ocean floor topography. D = depth.
Waves in water with depth D < L/2 = shallow water waves
and these feel the bottom topography:
• Wave orbits are forced to become elliptical;
• Wave energy is confined to shallower depths, it builds up
and breaks in the surf zone
• Waves slow down once they start to “feel” sea floor;
• Wave refraction occurs where the wave enters the shallow
water obliquely.
Special Case: Tsunami (Japanese for “Harbor Wave”).
Very long wavelength wave caused by a rapid displacement
of the ocean floor – typically from an earthquake.
Tsunamis can also be triggered by landslides, calving of
icebergs, volcanic eruptions, etc.
L = 100-200 km; L/2 = 50-100 km; D ~ 4,000 m.
Tsunamis are difficult to predict.
Periods = 10-20 minutes.
Velocity = up to 750 km/h.
At the origin, height = 1-2 m and the energy is spread over
entire depth of the ocean. When it enters shallower water, it
builds as energy is restricted and may reach up to 30 m high.
2) Tides.
Periodic rising and falling of the sea surface that results from
the gravitational attractions of the Moon and Sun acting on
the rotating Earth.
Variability: 0.1 – 15 m.
Main tidal forces caused by the Moon.
Earth rotates every 24 hours on its axis.
Moon orbits the Earth every 29.5 days: 360˚/29.5 =
12.2˚/day movement of the Moon.
Therefore, it takes the Earth (12.2/360) X 24 ~ 50 minutes
extra to catch up so the “Tidal Day” is 24 hours and 50
minutes.
2 high tides (= flood tides) and 2 low tides (= ebb tides)
each day.
Tides are actually shallow water waves and depend
heavily upon topography.
Tides can build in confined basins:
(a) north end of Gulf of California;
(b) Bay of Funday – highest tidal range in the world
(>15 m).
Tidal surge = Tidal Bore.
When the Sun and moon are in alignment (every 2 weeks),
“Spring Tides” are generated, which are ~20% higher than normal.
When the sun and Moon are in opposition, “Neap Tides” are
generated, which are ~20% lower than normal.
3) Currents
Forward movement of water.
(a)Wind Currents.
(b)Wave Currents: produced as waves “pile up”.
(i) Undertow – return of water along sea floor.
(ii) Rip Currents.
(iii) Longshore Currents.
Wind Currents: worldwide patterns due to frictional
drag of prevailing winds.
Longshore Currents –
movement parallel to
shore when the waves
strike the shore obliquely
due to prevailing winds.
Produces longshore drift.
(a) Tidal Currents: when tides enter a restricted
channel, reverse direction when tide falls.
(b) Density Currents: due to gravity acting on relatively
small differences in density produced by:
(i) Composition – higher salinity = denser water;
(ii) Temperature – to 4˚C, water gets denser, then less
dense;
(iii) Suspended sediments – rivers flowing in, turbidity
currents (fast), etc., increase density.
1) Waves Erosion
(i) Hydraulic action by compression of air in
joints/cracks/planes of weakness;
(ii) Abrasion – movement of fine particles.
Wave action tends to focus energy on cliffs and results
in the erosion of Headlands via Wave Refraction.
Stage 1: Flooding of coast results in an irregular coast.
Stage 3: Straightening of beach.
Stage 2: Erosion of cliffs/headlands.
Headland erosion, bay deposition.
Stack = isolated, pillar-like island detached from headland by wave
erosion (i.e., erosional remnant of a headland).
Wave action tends to downcut, creating a Wave-Cut Platform
terminated by a cliff. The cliff then retreats with time.
Sea Arch
Stacks
Stacks
Retreating Cliffs
Sediment Deposition
Beach: strip of sediment that extends from the low-
water line inland to a cliff or zone of permanent
vegetation.
(a) Beach Face: steepest part of the beach.
(b) Berm: wave-deposited platform that is nearly flat
– deposited above the usual high water line due
to storms.
BERM
Beach
Face
Sediments on beach are being worked by wave
action, and tend to be transported by longshore drift.
Sand movement can clog a bay by forming a
Baymouth Bar, or…………….
…………extend land by forming a Spit.
“Spits”
Barrier Islands
Sediment transport can be disturbed by
man-made structures
A. Jetties – cause sand to pile up on one side
and erosion to occur on the down-shore side.
B. Groins – cause sand
accumulation.
Cycles of Erosion
1) Transgression: Rise of
Sea Level.
Erosion of headlands
to form cliffs.
Straightening of
coasts.
Deposition of beaches,
spits, marshes, etc.
Estuaries = drowned
river valleys.
Cycles of Erosion
2) Regression: Fall of Sea Level.
Waves break offshore.
Get barriers, bars, and lagoons forming.
Lagoons fill with sediment from streams.
Beach propagates seaward.
Raised Beaches/Marine Terraces
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