2.1A Parts of the littoral zone

• Littoral zone = area of shoreline where the land is subject to wave action, consists of:

  -> Backshore

  -> Nearshore

  -> Offshore

  -> Foreshore
• offshore = The area of deeper water beyond the point at  which waves begin to break.
• Littoral zone = area of shoreline where the land is subject to wave action, consists of:

  -> Backshore

  -> Nearshore

  -> Offshore

  -> Foreshore

  
• Nearshore = The area of shallow water beyond the low tide mark
• Foreshore = The area between the high tide and the low tide mark.
• Backshore = The area above the high tide mark, affected by wave action only during major storm events. 
• Littoral zone forms three types of landscapes:

  • rocky, clipped coastline
  • sandy coastline
  • estuarine coastline
• dynamic zone = an area which has rapid constant changing inputs, through flows and outputs of energy and materials