Introduction

The character of shorelines results from the geological factors that set the stage and the physical processes that script the present story. To understand the development of coastal landforms, we must consider such things as tidal influences, wave climate, rock resistance, shoreline configuration and offshore bathymetry. The coast is a meeting place of energies in which rivers carry sediment to the sea where it is redistributed by marine processes. If the waves and currents cannot keep pace with the sediment supply, then deltas, bars, and other depositional features build the coast seaward. Where marine forces are stronger, the sediments are distributed across the shelf. This chapter integrates short- and long-term factors into an understanding of why our world's coastlines are the way they are today. Once an overall view has been presented, we discuss the individual environments that are part of today's coastlines (i.e., beaches, estuaries). And finally, we discuss the ever-changing coastal landscape, focusing first on natural changes and then on how man fits (or doesn't) into this as either a passive inhabitant or an active player trying to control his surroundings.