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Beaches in estuaries and bays (BEBs) refer to beaches that exist inside estuaries or bays and therefore are partially or fully sheltered from ocean wind waves, [1] [2] which are a typical source of energy to build beaches. Beaches located inside harbours and lagoons are also considered BEBs. BEBs can be unvegetated or partially unvegetated and can be made of sand, gravel or shells. [3] As a consequence of the sheltering, the importance of other sources of wave energy, including locally generated wind waves and infragravity waves, may be more important for BEBs than for those beaches on the open coast. Boat wakes, [4] currents driven by tides, and river inflow can also be important for BEBs. When BEBs receive insufficient wave energy, they can become inactive, and stabilised by vegetation; this may occur through both natural processes and human action. [5] BEBs exist in all latitudes from beaches located in fjords and drowned river valleys (rias) in high latitudes to beaches located in the equatorial zone like, for example, the Amazon estuarine beaches. [6]
BEBs are found all around the world, including in large cities such as San Francisco, Sydney, Lisbon, London and Shanghai for example. While sometimes relatively small by area, they can provide a large range of resources. In addition to their ecological importance, BEBs can provide spaces in urban-settings for people to connect with nature, and protection for landward areas and infrastructure.
BEBs provide critical habitats and feeding areas for local fish and birds. [7] Even small patches of sand can provide critical habitat. [8] Many BEBs are fronted by sea grass [9] and may allow marshes to develop behind them. [10] BEBs in estuaries are the habitat for Horseshoe crabs, which during spawning, if combined with moderate wave heights, modify the beach profile such as it becomes concave, similar to a storm profile and lowering the wave-energy threshold for morphological response. [11] Studies in Jamaica Bay showed that the ecological restoration of Horseshoe crabs was limited by the extent of the beach instead of the water quality. [8] Studies of the Ichthyofauna of low energy BEBs in Southern Brazil showed their dependance on salinity and energy. [12]
BEBs are often small and isolated and not as iconic as open-ocean beaches in popular culture; and may have a history of litter, [13] pollution and dereliction. [3] However, BEBs are often located around major cities and provide an important recreational and cultural resource. BEBs provide calm swimming opportunities for young children. [14] They can be immensely popular, like the beaches in the Pará River (Amazon Coast of Brazil) [15] or in Sydney Harbour, [16] [17] or little-known, as are some in San Francisco Bay. [18]
BEBs provide protective buffers for wetlands and coastal development [3] [7] and it is important to protect them. The seagrass that often fronts these systems in Australia is endangered and ecological restoration projects such as Operation Posidonia [19] are in place to restore this seagrass. Other coastal protections placed in estuaries, like oyster reefs, are believed to attenuate erosive waves [20] and therefore protect the adjacent BEBs, [21] however, living reefs can create undesired coastal changes related to interrupting sediment transport pathways and excessive wave attenuation. [22]
BEBs, like all beaches, are accumulations of unconsolidated sediment (i.e., sand) within the cross-shore limits of wave action [23] and occur where there is a suitable supply of sediment and exposure to waves that are energetic enough to move sediment and overcome stabilization by vegetation. [5] The underlying geology is a primary control for the shape, volume and stability of BEBs, and the location and orientation of the beach inside the estuary or bay are important controls on its morphodynamic equilibrium. [24] The hydrodynamic processes (i.e., waves and currents) that control the shape and equilibrium of BEBs are largely determined by the geometric configuration of the estuary/bay; this includes the width and orientation of the entrance and the width, length and depth of the estuary/bay. For example, tidal currents are strong at constrictions like at the mouth of bar-built estuaries; estuaries or bays with wide mouths allow propagation of ocean waves; and, the existence of a large enough wind fetch within an estuary or bay allows the development of locally-generated wind waves. However, BEBs primarily exist in fetch-limited conditions, causing the geologic and biologic factors on beach shape to have outsize importance. [7]
Typical gradients from the entrance to the inner estuary or bay are observed:
Other social factors like population and nearby infrastructure control the degree to which a beach is affected by boat wakes and engineering works that can change the geometry of the bay. In fact, most bays and estuaries hosting large cities are strongly modified, for example, San Francisco, Shanghai, Sydney, or London.
BEBs can be controlled by different types of wave energy depending on their location inside the estuary/bay and the geometric configuration of the estuary/bay. The morphology and characteristics of BEBs vary broadly depending on geology, sediment availability and hydrodynamic energy. They can be narrow and low and exist under low-energy conditions or they can be directly exposed to swell waves propagating into the estuary, in which case they might resemble a beach on the open coast, but still be controlled by different processes. They can occur in all tidal conditions, from micro- to macro-tides, and under strong river flows to no river flow.
BEBs may be low energy, sheltered, fetch-limited, lagoonal, backbarrier, and elsewhere, therefore, they have been noted in the literature with very different names. Here are a few examples:
When BEBs are exposed to waves larger than the dominant conditions, they undergo erosion. The volume of erosion can be smaller than the volumes eroded from open-coast beaches, but they might represent a large percentage of the total volume of the beach. The destination of the sand eroded from the beach is not clear, in some cases the sand can be lost to tidal channels or stored in the flood-tide delta. [37] [28] In any case, recovery is slow and the sediment transport pathways and mechanisms of recovery are mostly unknown. It has been reported that the recovery of BEBs is slower than the recovery of open-coast beaches. [31] [38]
A coast – also called the coastline, shoreline, or seashore – is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape, as well as by water induced erosion, such as waves. The geological composition of rock and soil dictates the type of shore that is created. Earth contains roughly 620,000 km (390,000 mi) of coastline.
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environments and are an example of an ecotone. Estuaries are subject both to marine influences such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water, and to fluvial influences such as flows of freshwater and sediment. The mixing of seawater and freshwater provides high levels of nutrients both in the water column and in sediment, making estuaries among the most productive natural habitats in the world.
Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward retreat of the shoreline can be measured and described over a temporal scale of tides, seasons, and other short-term cyclic processes. Coastal erosion may be caused by hydraulic action, abrasion, impact and corrosion by wind and water, and other forces, natural or unnatural.
Longshore drift from longshore current is a geological process that consists of the transportation of sediments along a coast parallel to the shoreline, which is dependent on the angle of incoming wave direction. Oblique incoming wind squeezes water along the coast, and so generates a water current which moves parallel to the coast. Longshore drift is simply the sediment moved by the longshore current. This current and sediment movement occur within the surf zone. The process is also known as littoral drift.
Barrier islands are a coastal landform, a type of dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few islands to more than a dozen. They are subject to change during storms and other action, but absorb energy and protect the coastlines and create areas of protected waters where wetlands may flourish. A barrier chain may extend for hundreds of kilometers, with islands periodically separated by tidal inlets. The largest barrier island in the world is Padre Island of Texas, United States, at 113 miles (182 km) long. Sometimes an important inlet may close permanently, transforming an island into a peninsula, thus creating a barrier peninsula, often including a beach, barrier beach. Though many are long and narrow, the length and width of barriers and overall morphology of barrier coasts are related to parameters including tidal range, wave energy, sediment supply, sea-level trends, and basement controls. The amount of vegetation on the barrier has a large impact on the height and evolution of the island.
An inlet is a indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, cove, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea.
Coos Bay is an estuary where the Coos River enters the Pacific Ocean, the estuary is approximately 12 miles long and up to two miles wide. It is the largest estuary completely within Oregon state lines. The Coos Bay watershed covers an area of about 600 square miles and is located in northern Coos County, Oregon, in the United States. The Coos River, which begins in the Oregon Coast Range, enters the bay from the east. From Coos River, the bay forms a sharp loop northward before arching back to the south and out to the Pacific Ocean. Haynes Inlet enters the top of this loop. South Slough branches off from the bay directly before its entrance into the Pacific Ocean. The bay was formed when sea levels rose over 20,000 years ago at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, flooding the mouth of the Coos River. Coos Bay is Oregon's most important coastal industrial center and international shipping port, with close ties to San Francisco, the Columbia River, Puget Sound and other major ports of the Pacific rim.
Beach nourishment describes a process by which sediment, usually sand, lost through longshore drift or erosion is replaced from other sources. A wider beach can reduce storm damage to coastal structures by dissipating energy across the surf zone, protecting upland structures and infrastructure from storm surges, tsunamis and unusually high tides. Beach nourishment is typically part of a larger integrated coastal zone management aimed at coastal defense. Nourishment is typically a repetitive process since it does not remove the physical forces that cause erosion but simply mitigates their effects.
A tidal marsh is a marsh found along rivers, coasts and estuaries which floods and drains by the tidal movement of the adjacent estuary, sea or ocean. Tidal marshes experience many overlapping persistent cycles, including diurnal and semi-diurnal tides, day-night temperature fluctuations, spring-neap tides, seasonal vegetation growth and decay, upland runoff, decadal climate variations, and centennial to millennial trends in sea level and climate.
Coastal morphodynamics refers to the study of the interaction and adjustment of the seafloor topography and fluid hydrodynamic processes, seafloor morphologies, and sequences of change dynamics involving the motion of sediment. Hydrodynamic processes include those of waves, tides and wind-induced currents. Anthropogenic climate change is causing changes in the coastal changes and processes that are interconnected with those caused by natural processes.
Coastal geography is the study of the constantly changing region between the ocean and the land, incorporating both the physical geography and the human geography of the coast. It includes understanding coastal weathering processes, particularly wave action, sediment movement and weather, and the ways in which humans interact with the coast.
Coastal management is defence against flooding and erosion, and techniques that stop erosion to claim lands. Protection against rising sea levels in the 21st century is crucial, as sea level rise accelerates due to climate change. Changes in sea level damage beaches and coastal systems are expected to rise at an increasing rate, causing coastal sediments to be disturbed by tidal energy.
Yaquina Bay is a coastal estuarine community found in Newport, Oregon. Yaquina Bay is a semi-enclosed body of water, approximately 8 km2 (3.2 mi2) in area, with free connection to the Pacific Ocean, but also diluted with freshwater from the Yaquina River land drainage. The Bay is traversed by the Yaquina Bay Bridge.
Hard engineering involves the construction of hydraulic structures to protect coasts from erosion. Such structures include seawalls, gabions, breakwaters, groynes and tetrapods.
Sedimentary budgets are a coastal management tool used to analyze and describe the different sediment inputs (sources) and outputs (sinks) on the coasts, which is used to predict morphological change in any particular coastline over time. Within a coastal environment the rate of change of sediment is dependent on the amount of sediment brought into the system versus the amount of sediment that leaves the system. These inputs and outputs of sediment then equate to the total balance of the system and more than often reflect the amounts of erosion or accretion affecting the morphology of the coast.
Coastal engineering is a branch of civil engineering concerned with the specific demands posed by constructing at or near the coast, as well as the development of the coast itself.
A mouth bar is an element of a deltaic system, which refers to the typically mid-channel deposition of the sediment transported by the river channel at the river mouth.
A marine habitat is a habitat that supports marine life. Marine life depends in some way on the saltwater that is in the sea. A habitat is an ecological or environmental area inhabited by one or more living species. The marine environment supports many kinds of these habitats.
Coastal flooding occurs when dry and low-lying land is submerged (flooded) by seawater. The range of a coastal flooding is a result of the elevation of floodwater that penetrates the inland which is controlled by the topography of the coastal land exposed to flooding. The seawater can flood the land via several different paths: direct flooding, overtopping or breaching of a barrier. Coastal flooding is largely a natural event. Due to the effects of climate change and an increase in the population living in coastal areas, the damage caused by coastal flood events has intensified and more people are being affected.
A hapua is a river-mouth lagoon on a mixed sand and gravel (MSG) beach, formed at the river-coast interface where a typically braided, although sometimes meandering, river interacts with a coastal environment that is significantly affected by longshore drift. The lagoons which form on the MSG coastlines are common on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand and have long been referred to as hapua by Māori people. This classification differentiates hapua from similar lagoons located on the New Zealand coast termed waituna.