How are Coastal Landforms Created?
What are types of coastal landforms?
Marine and terrestrial structures found at the coast include beaches, bays, dunes and cliffs . Others such as fiords are unique to Polar Regions. Structures found under the sea can include the continental shelf, canyons and trenches.
1 Dune blowouts — loose sand is blown from the dune because vegetation has been removed.
2 Caves — formed where weak rocks are eroded on each side of a headland as a result of wave refraction.
3 Arch — caves will erode on either side of a headland and join to form an arch.
4 Cliff — created when erosion undercuts a rock platform and the weakened rock collapses.
5 Longshore drift — moves sand and other material along a beach.
6 Estuaries — of a river that are tidal and occur at the mouth of the river where it meets the sea.
7 Lagoon — formed when a sandbar begins to develop, eventually closing an estuary.
8 Beaches — formed when material is brought to the shore by waves. Spits can develop when deposited sand accumulates perpendicular to the beach.
9 Dunes — formed when sand on a beach is stabilised by vegetation.
10 Stack — created by ongoing erosion of an arch, where one section of the arch collapses.
11 Blowhole — formed when the roof of a cave collapses as a result of the action of waves.
12 Tombolo — a spit joining two land areas.
13 Headlands — when coastal rocks are very hard and resist erosion from the waves.