the coastal system

• why is the coast an open system?

  • receives inputs from outside system
  • transfers outputs away from coast into other system
• other systems may be terrestrial, atmospheric or oceanic.

  this can include rock, water and carbon cyckes
• what are the features of the coastal system?

  • inputs - material or energy
  • outputs - material or energy
  • stores - store sediment and material
  • transfers - process that link inputs, outputs and stores
  • energy - power and driving force behind transfers
• what are the inputs in the coastal system?

  • marine - waves, tides, salt spray
  • atmosphere - sun, air pressure, wind speed, direction
  • humans - pollution, recreation, settlement, defences
• what are the outputs in the coastal system?

  • ocean currents
  • rip tides
  • sediment transfer
  • evaporation
• what are the stores in the coastal system?

  • beaches
  • sand dunes
  • spits
  • bars and tombolos
  • headlands and bays
  • nearshore sediment
  • cliffs
  • wave-cut notches
  • wave-cut platforms
  • caves
  • arches
  • stacks
  • stumps
  • salt marshes
  • tidal flats
  • offshore bands and bars
• what are the transfers in the coastal system?

  • wind-blown sand
  • mass-movement processes
  • longshore drift
  • weathering
  • erosion - hydraulic action, corrosion, attrition, abrasion
  • transportation - bedload, in suspension, traction, in solution
  • deposition - gravity settling, flocculation
• what are the energy sources in the coastal system?

  • wind
  • gravitational
  • flowing water