1.

Details of Module and its structure

Module Detail
Subject Name Geography
Course Name Geography 01 (Class XI, Semester - 1)
Module Name/Title Landforms — Landforms Formed by Waves and Currents –
Part 4
Module Id kegy_20704
Pre-requisites Basic knowledge about the landforms developed by the
action of Wave and Currents
Objectives After reading this lesson, learners will be able to:
 Acquire the knowledge and understanding of coastal
landforms.
 Students will be able to understand the mechanism of
coastal erosion.
 Students will be able to understand the landforms
formed by erosional and depositional activities of sea
waves and currents.
Keywords Sea – Cliffs, Wave – Cut Platforms, Sea Cave, Sea Stacks,
Sea Arches, Sea Beaches, Barrier Islands, Spits.

2. Development Team
Role Name Affiliation
National MOOC Coordinator Prof. Amarendra P. Behera CIET, NCERT, New Delhi
(NMC)
Program Coordinator Dr. Mohd. Mamur Ali CIET, NCERT, New Delhi
Course Coordinator (CC) / PI Prof. Aparna Pandey DESS, NCERT, New Delhi
Course Co-Coordinator / Co-PI Dr. Archana CIET, NCERT, New Delhi
Subject Matter Expert (SME) NCERT textbook “
Fundamentals of Physical
Dr. Prabuddh Kr. Mishra Geography”
Bhim Rao Ambedkar college
New Delhi
Review Team Dr. Ramashray Prasad Bhim Rao Ambedkar college
New Delhi
Table of Content:
1. Introduction
2. High Rocky Coasts
3. Low Sedimentary Coasts
4. Landforms?
5. Mechanism of Coastal Erosion
6. Erosional Landforms
7. Depositional Landforms
8. Summary

Introduction
Coastal processes are the most dynamic and hence most destructive. So, don’t you think it is
important to know about the coastal processes and forms? The shape and character of the
coasts are determined partly by the movements of elevation and depression which have
affected the earth’s crust, partly by the action of the sea waves, currents and other denuding
agencies. They depend also to a large extent upon the nature of the materials which form the
land. The coastline, under the constant action of the waves, tides and currents, is undergoing
changes from day to day. On a calm day, when the winds are slight, waves do little damage to
the shoreline and may instead help to build up beaches and other depositional features. It is in
storm that the ravages of the waves reach their greatest magnitude. Coastal landforms are
produced by the joint action of oceanic waves, currents and tides on the coastline along with
the combination of processes, sediments, and the geology of the coast itself. Among all of
these factors, waves are the most important of all in carving out the coastal landforms.
The coastal environment of the world is made up of a wide variety of landforms manifested
in a spectrum of sizes and shapes ranging from gently sloping beaches to high cliffs, yet
coastal landforms are best considered in two broad categories: erosional and depositional. In
fact, the overall nature of any coast may be described in terms of one or the other of these
categories.
Some of the changes along the coasts take place very fast. At one place, there can be erosion
in one season and deposition in another. Most of the changes along the coasts are
accomplished by waves. When waves break, the water is thrown with great force onto the
shore, and simultaneously, there is a great churning of sediments on the sea bottom. Constant
impact of breaking waves drastically affects the coasts. Storm waves and tsunami waves can
cause far-reaching changes in a short period of time than normal breaking waves. As wave
environment changes, the intensity of the force of breaking waves changes. Other than the
action of waves, the coastal landforms depend upon (i) the configuration of land and sea
floor; (ii) whether the coast is advancing (emerging) seaward or retreating (submerging)
landward. Assuming sea level to be constant, two types of coasts are considered to explain
the concept of evolution of coastal landforms: (i) high, rocky coasts (submerged coasts); (ii)
low, smooth and gently sloping sedimentary coasts (emerged coasts).

High Rocky Coasts

Along the high rocky coasts, the rivers appear to have been drowned with highly irregular
coastline. The coastline appears highly indented with extension of water into the land where
glacial valleys (fjords) are present. The hill sides drop off sharply into the water. Shores do
not show any depositional landforms initially. Erosion features dominate. Along high rocky
coasts, waves break with great force against the land shaping the hill sides into cliffs. With
constant pounding by waves, the cliffs recede leaving a wave-cut platform in front of the sea
cliff. Waves gradually minimise the irregularities along the shore.
The materials which fall off, and removed from the sea cliffs, gradually break into smaller
fragments and roll to roundness, will get deposited in the offshore. After a considerable
period of cliff development and retreat when coastline turns somewhat smooth, with the
addition of some more material to this deposit in the offshore, a wave-built terrace would
develop in front of wave-cut terrace. As the erosion along the coast takes place a good supply
material becomes available to long shore currents and waves to deposit them as beaches
along the shore and as bars (long ridges of sand and/or shingle parallel to the coast) in the
near shore zone. Bars are submerged features and when bars show up above water, they are
called barrier bars. Barrier bar which get keyed up to the headland of a bay is called a spit.
When barrier bars and spits form at the mouth of a bay and block it, a lagoon forms. The
lagoons would gradually get filled up by sediments from the land giving rise to a coastal
plain.

Low Sedimentary Coasts

Along low sedimentary coasts the rivers appear to extend their length by building coastal
plains and deltas. The coastline appears smooth with occasional incursions of water in the
form of lagoons and tidal creeks. The land slopes gently into the water. Marshes and swamps
may abound along the coasts. Depositional features dominate. When waves break over a
gently sloping sedimentary coast, the bottom sediments get churned and move readily
building bars, barrier bars, spits and lagoons. Lagoons would eventually turn into a swamp
which would subsequently turn into a coastal plain. The maintenance of these depositional
features depends upon the steady supply of materials. Storm and tsunami waves cause drastic
changes irrespective of supply of sediments. Large rivers which bring lots of sediments build
deltas along low sedimentary coasts. The west coast of our country is a high rocky retreating
coast. Erosional forms dominate in the west coast. The east coast of India is a low
sedimentary coast. Depositional forms dominate in the east coast. What are the various
differences between a high rocky coast and a low sedimentary coast in terms of processes and
landforms?

Mechanism of Coastal Erosion

As discussed earlier, waves are usually the most important agents modifying the coastline.
Their origin is due to sweeping of winds over the water surface, which sets a series of
undulating swells surging forward. A normal wave in a open sea may measure 20 ft high and
400 ft long; during storms this is greatly increased, depending on the speed and duration of
winds. Tides are also effective, first, because they raise and lower the plane of action of the
waves, and secondly, because of the currents associated with them. Currents due to winds are
usually too week, where they actually make the contact with the shore, to have any direct
influence.
The erosive work of the sea depends upon the;
i. Size and strengths of the wave
ii. Seaward slope
iii. Height of the shore between low and high tides,
iv. Composition of rocks,
v. Depth of water,
vi. Human interference in coast protection etc.

Other effects such as vulcanicity, glaciations, earth movement and organic accumulations
have also to be considered while understanding the coastal landforms. The waves exert a
pressure to a magnitude of 3,000 to 30,000 km per square km. This wave pressure
compresses the air trapped inside rock fissures, joints faults etc., forcing it to expand and
rupture the rock along week points. This is how rocks get worn down under wave action.
Waves also use rock debris as instruments of erosion. These rocks fragments carried by
waves themselves get worn down by sticking against the coast or against one another. The
solvent or chemical or solvent action of wave is another mode of erosion, but it is pronounced
only in case of soluble rocks like limestone and chalk.
Marine agents of erosion operate in the following way to transform the coastal landscape.
Corrasive action (Corrasion)
Waves armed with boulders, pebbles and sands are hurled against the coast by breaking
waves and this causes undercutting and rock break-up.

Hydraulic Action
When water is thrown against the shore, by breaking waves, it causes the air in the cracks and
crevices to be compressed suddenly. When the waves retreat, the air expands suddenly often
explosively. This cause to shatter ad cracks becomes enlarge and extended.

Attrition action
As boulders and rocks are hurled against the shore and against each other by breaking waves,
they gradually break up into smaller pieces. The particles are themselves worn down by
friction and impact, and become finer and finer.

Solvent action
The minerals in some rocks react chemically with the sea water. This causes the rocks to
become less resistant to erosion for example limestone coasts.

Erosional Landforms
Sea cliffs
Sea Cliff is an erosional landform, generally any very steep rock face adjoining the coast
forms a cliff (Fig. 1). The rate of recession will depend on its geological structure that is the
stratification and jointing of the rocks and their resistance to wave attack.Imagine a newly
drowned land surface. Marine erosion will begin to cut a notch (the point of wave attack at
the base of cliff) in the land where see meets it. As erosion proceeds, the notch is further
developed and the first sign of a cliff appear. Further, landward recession of the notches
results in the further development of a cliff. The cliff base is steepened by wave erosion but
while this is going on, the cliff face above high tide level is attacked by weathering processes.
And mass wasting becomes dominant. This causes the cliff face to become less steep. In front
i.e., seaward of a cliff of this type is called as wave cut platform The platform develops over
the cliff recedes and the as the rock debris, in part from marine erosion and in part from mass
wasting, is swept backwards and forwards by breaking waves. Some of the debris settles on
the platform forming continuous cover. The rest of the debris is either carried out into the
deeper waters of the offshore zone or is carried to shore to areas where less active waves
deposit it as a beach.
 Fig.1: Sea cliff at Marsh island
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Sea_Cliffs.JPG
As cliffs retreats further, the wave cut platform becomes wider, and if the process continues,
it becomes sufficiently wide to prevent waves from reaching the cliff base because the water
over the platform is too shallow to allow the waves to proceed to the coast.

Wave-cut platforms
At the base of most cliffs along a rocky coast one finds a flat surface at about the mid-tide
elevation. This is a benchlike feature called a wave-cut platform, or wave-cut bench. Such
surfaces may measure from a few metres to hundreds of metres wide and extend to the base
of the adjacent cliff. They are formed by wave action on the bedrock along the coast. The
formation process can take a long time, depending on the type of rock present. The existence
of extensive wave-cut platforms thus implies that sea level did not fluctuate during the
periods of formation. Multiple platforms of this type along a given reach of coast indicate
various positions of sea level.

Fig.2: Wave-cut platform at South Wales

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Wavecut_platform_southerndown_pa
no.jpg
Sea cave
A sea cave, also known as a littoral cave, is a type of cave formed primarily by
the wave action of the sea. The primary process involved is erosion. Sea caves are found
throughout the world, actively forming along present coastlines and as relict sea caves on
former coastlines. The driving force in littoral cave development is wave action. Erosion is
ongoing anywhere that waves batter rocky coasts, but where sea cliffs contain zones of
weakness, rock is removed at a greater rate along these zones. As the sea reaches into the
fissures thus formed, they begin to widen and deepen due to the tremendous force exerted
within a confined space, not only by direct action of the surf and any rock particles that it
bears, but also by compression of air within. Blowholes (partially submerged caves that eject
large sprays of sea water as waves retreat and allow rapid re-expansion of air compressed
within) attest to this process. Adding to the hydraulic power of the waves is the abrasive force
of suspended sand and rock. Most sea-cave walls are irregular and chunky, reflecting an
erosional process where the rock is fractured piece by piece. However, some caves have
portions where the walls are rounded and smoothed, typically floored with cobbles, and result
from the swirling motion of these cobbles in the surf zone.
Some of the largest wave-cut caves in the world are found on the coast of Norway, but are
now 100 feet or more above present sea level. These would still be classified as littoral caves.
By contrast, in places like Thailand's PhangNga Bay, solutionally formed caves in limestone
have been flooded by the rising sea and are now subject to littoral erosion, representing a new
phase of their enlargement..

Fig.3: Ryugu Sea cave

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Ryugu_Sea_Cave_20121010_a.jpg

Sea stacks
Erosion along rocky coasts occurs at various rates and is dependent both on the rock type and
on the wave energy at a particular site. As a result of the above-mentioned conditions, wave-
cut platforms may be incomplete, with erosional remnants on the horizontal wave-cut surface.
These remnants are called sea stacks, and they provide a spectacular type of coastal landform.
Some are many metres high and form isolated pinnacles on the otherwise smooth wave-cut
surface. Because erosion is a continual process, these features are not permanent and will
eventually be eroded, leaving no trace of their existence.

Fig.4: Sea Stacks in Silurian reef limestone, Sweden

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Seastacks.JPG

Sea arches
Another spectacular type of erosional landform is the sea arch, which forms as the result of
different rates of erosion typically due to the varied resistance of bedrock. These archways
may have an arcuate or rectangular shape, with the opening extending below water level. The
height of an arch can be up to tens of metres above sea level.

Fig.5: Sea arch near Portrush

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Sea_arch_near_Portrush_-
_geograph.org.uk_-_1115474.jpg
Depositional Landforms
Beaches
‘The sediment in motion along a shore is the beach- A. Bloom (1979)’.
Beaches are characteristic of shorelines that are dominated by deposition, but may occur as
patches along even the rugged shores. The best known and most common depositional
landform is beach. This is the most dominant form of the constructive work of the sea. Sand
shingle, boulders, gravels and mud loosened from the land are moved by waves to be
deposited along the shore as beaches. The eroded material is transported along the shore in
several distinct ways. The materials which makes up the beaches comes from eroded
headlands and other beaches through the action of longshore drift, and all of it is sorted by
the action of swash and backwash. The strong swash of a constructive or spilling wave
usually pushes the coarsest material up the beach. At the same time, the backwash removes
parts of the material seawards along the bed of the sea, and deposits it on the off-shore terrace
and even beyond. Finer material such as silt and mud are deposited in the shallow waters of a
sheltered coast .
The constant action of the waves automatically sorts out the shorelines deposit in graded
manner. The coarser materials (cobbles and boulders) are dropped by the waves at the top of
the beach. The finer material (pebbles and sand grains) which are carried down the beach by
the backwash are dropped closer the sea. On the smooth lowlands, beaches may continue for
kilometers, like those of the east coast of west Malaysia, but in upland regions where the land
descends abruptly into the sea, such as the Chilean coast, long beaches are absent.

Fig.6: Champagne Beach Vanuatu

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Champagne_Beach.jpg

Just behind the beach, the sands lifted and winnowed from over the beach surfaces will be
deposited as sand dunes. Sand dunes forming long ridges parallel to the coastline are very
common along low sedimentary coasts.
 Fig.7: Beach Sand Dunes
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/East_Beach_Sand_Dunes_-
_geograph.org.uk_-_703147.jpg

Bars, Barriers and Spits

A ridge of sand and shingle formed in the sea in the off-shore zone (from the position of low
tide waterline to seaward) lying approximately parallel to the coast is called an off-shore bar.
An off-shore bar which is exposed due to further addition of sand is termed a barrier bar.
The off-shore bars and barriers commonly form across the mouth of a river or at entrance of a
bay. Sometimes such barrier bars get keyed up to one end of the bay when they are called
spits (Fig. 5). Spits may also develop attached to headlands/hills. The barriers, bars and spits
at the mouth of the bay gradually extend leaving only a small opening of the bay into the sea
and the bay will eventually develop into a lagoon. The lagoons get filled up gradually by
sediment coming from the land or from the beach itself (aided by wind) and a broad and wide
coastal plain may develop replacing a lagoon.

Fig.8: Shingle Spit at the Mouth of the River Otter

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Shingle_Spit_at_the_Mouth_of_the_
River_Otter_-_geograph.org.uk_-_638893.jpg

Do you know
The coastal off-shore bars offer the first buffer or defence against storm or tsunami by
absorbing most of their destructive force. Then come the barriers, beaches, beach dunes and
mangroves, if any, to absorb the destructive force of storm and tsunami waves. So, if we do
anything which disturbs the ‘sediment budget’ and the mangroves along the coast, these
coastal forms will get eroded away leaving human habitations to bear first strike of storm
and tsunami waves.

Summary
 Coastal landforms are formed by the action of waves, currents and tides, of which
waves are the most important.
 Waves are caused by wind. In deep water the wave move forward with the wind, but
the individual water particle moves in circular paths, returning almost to their original
positions.
 Sediments used by sea to erode the land come from river, glacier and the mass
wasting of slopes.
 The coast line is the highest level that the sea reaches on land.
 The shore is the land between the coastline and the shoreline (the lowest level reached
by the sea).
 Waves erode by hydraulic action (impact and pressure on waves) and by abrasion
(grinding the material moved by waves).
 Only about one percent sediments come directly from wave erosion; most wave
erosions occur during large storms.
 Longitudinal drift, one of the most important shoreline processes, is generated as
waves strike the shore at an angle, water and sediment move obliquely up to the beach
face but return with backwash directly down the beach, perpendicular to the shore
line. This results in net transport, parallel to the shore.
 Erosion along coasts results from the abrasive action of sand and gravel moved by the
water and currents and, to a lesser extent, from solution and hydraulic action. The
undercutting action of wave currents typically produces sea cliffs. As a sea cliff
recedes, a wave cut platform develops. Minor erosional landforms associated with the
development of sea cliffs include sea caves, sea arches, and sea stacks.
 Sediment deposited between the coastline and the shoreline is called a beach.
 A constructive wave is one that deposits sediment; a destructive wave is one that
removes sediments.
 Waves effect erosion by abrasion, hydraulic action, and attrition.