Sea Coast
If you have visited the beach, you must have been on the coast. The cost is also known as coastline, or seacoast is defined as the area where the land touches the sea or oceans. The edges of a coast where the land touches water are known as the coastline. The coastline is formed through waves, tides, and currents.
Coast enables us to understand natural events such as weather or changing sea levels. During storms, coastal areas are the first place to be flooded the most. The coastal areas, as beautiful as they seem to be, become uneven sometimes as they are highly affected by pollution, garbage, oil spills from both land and sea.
Tourists visit the coast during a vacation to participate in different activities like fishing, swimming, and boating.
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What is the Coastal Range?
The coastal range, also known as the Pacific coast range, is the series of mountain ranges in the United States running alongside the Pacific coast for more than 16000 km or 1000 miles starting from west-central Washington in the north to the Transverse Ranges of California in the south.
The climate of the coastal range is cool, with dry summers and mild, wet winters in the North. From North to South, both summers and winters in the coastal ranges get steadily dusty or dry and variations in wintertime precipitation rise rapidly. Forests along the coast of Northern California and Southern Oregon are influenced by the giant redwoods while farther inland, there can be seen a mixed forest of conifers and broad-leaved redwood.
Wildlife in the coast range includes small fur-bearing animals such as weavers, rabbits, muskrats, and bobcats, and large animals such as bears, elk, and deer. This is also the place where the legendary hairy, human-like creatures like ‘barefoot’ are almost seen.
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Pacific Coast Range
What is Semper Paratus?
The Latin phrase “ Semper Paratus” means “Always Ready”. Sometimes abbreviated as Semper P.It is also considered to be the official motto of the United States Coast Guard. A 1928 song of the same name, composed in 1927 by Captain Francis Saltan Van Boskerck is also used as the US Coast Guard’s official March and can be seen on the Organization flag.
The origin lyrics of the 1928 song were written by Captain Francis Saltan Van Boskerk in 1922, at the cabin of USRC Yamacraw in Savannah Georgia. In 1927, he wrote the music on a beat-up old piano in Unalaska, Alaska.
In 1969, the first line of the chorus song was changed from " So here's the US Coast Guard Marching Song: We sing on land and sea" to "We are always there for the call, We play our trust in Thee"
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What is NVDC?
NVDC, also known as National Vessel Documentation Centre is the division of the coast guard responsible for managing the certification and federal registration of commercial and recreational boats in the US. The NVDC maintains a database that includes appropriate information regarding every registered ship. The list is available to the public so that they can look for the boats they know or have an interest in. With this, they can find more detailed information about the ships.
Did You Know
The climate of the coastal region is the most moderate in the Pacific Northwest.
The coastal range is the next home to the rainforest.
If you will measure the total length of the land where it meets water then you will find it is around 312,000 miles or 502,000 km.
In the countries like Australia or England, the term coast is sometimes referred to as the seaside.
The most famous example of coast in Great Britain is Holderness coast near Bridlington.
Coast Guard National Vessel Documentation Centre (NVDC) registered approximately 23000 vessels for commercial and recreational purposes in U.S. waters.
FAQs on Coast
1. What is a coast as defined in geography?
In geography, a coast is defined as the area where land meets the sea or ocean. It is a dynamic zone of transition that is shaped by both terrestrial processes, such as river deposition, and marine processes, like wave action and tides. This entire region, from the low tide line inland to the first major landform feature, is considered the coastal zone.
2. What is the difference between a primary coast and a secondary coast?
The main difference lies in the dominant forces that shape them. Primary coasts are largely formed by non-marine or land-based processes. Examples include coasts formed by river deltas (like the Nile Delta), volcanic lava flows (like in Hawaii), or tectonic activity. In contrast, secondary coasts are shaped primarily by marine forces, such as wave erosion, sediment transport by ocean currents, or the growth of coral reefs. Barrier islands and wave-cut cliffs are classic examples of secondary coastal features.
3. What are some common examples of coastal landforms?
Coastal areas feature a variety of distinct landforms created by erosion and deposition. Some common examples include:
- Beaches: Gently sloping areas of sand, pebbles, or shells along the edge of a body of water.
- Cliffs: Steep, vertical rock faces formed by wave erosion against resistant rock.
- Deltas: Fan-shaped landforms created by the deposition of sediment at the mouth of a river.
- Spits: Elongated ridges of sand or shingle that project from the land out into the water.
- Lagoons: Shallow bodies of water separated from the open sea by barrier islands or coral reefs.
4. What are the two main types of coasts based on sea-level changes?
Based on their relationship to sea-level changes, coasts are broadly classified into two types:
- Coasts of Emergence: These are formed when the land rises in relation to sea level, or when the sea level itself falls. This process exposes former sea-floor areas, often resulting in straight, smooth coastlines.
- Coasts of Submergence: These are formed when the sea level rises in relation to the land, or the land subsides. This floods existing river valleys and glacial troughs, creating complex, indented coastlines with features like rias (drowned river valleys) and fjords (drowned glacial valleys).
5. Why are coastal areas so important for the environment and human society?
Coastal areas are critically important for several reasons. Environmentally, they host vital ecosystems like mangroves and coral reefs, which support immense biodiversity and protect inland areas from storm surges. For human society, they are hubs for economic activity, including shipping (ports), fishing, and tourism. They are also densely populated regions, making their sustainable management a global priority.
6. Why do some coasts have sandy beaches while others are dominated by rocky cliffs?
This difference is primarily due to two factors: geology and wave energy. Rocky cliffs form where the coast is composed of hard, resistant rock that erodes slowly under the force of powerful waves. In contrast, sandy beaches are common where the coastal rock is softer and easily eroded, or where there is a plentiful supply of sediment from rivers or ocean currents that is deposited by lower-energy waves.
7. How do human activities like construction and pollution impact coastal landforms?
Human activities can significantly alter coastal environments. Building structures like seawalls and jetties disrupts the natural process of longshore drift (sediment movement along the coast), often causing erosion in one area and unwanted deposition in another. Pollution from urban runoff and industrial waste can degrade water quality, damaging sensitive habitats like coral reefs and salt marshes, which in turn weakens the coast's natural defences.
8. What is the key difference between a 'coast' and a 'shoreline'?
While often used interchangeably, these terms have distinct meanings. The shoreline is the specific, narrow line where the water's surface meets the land at any given moment. It constantly shifts with tides. The coast, or coastal zone, is a much broader geographical area that extends from the low-tide line inland to the limit of marine influence, encompassing features like cliffs, dunes, and beaches.
