2 - Understanding Coastal Processes
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Summary
It's just the way it changes
… Like the shoreline and the sea
Cohen 1968The dynamics of coastal systems
The previous chapter noted the difficulty of finding a single definition for the Australian coast. This becomes more complex when we realise that the modern coast is not a static line, even though it is often used as boundary marker. While some changes are very visible to the human eye, more subtle changes that may be just as important are occurring all the time. For this reason it is necessary to consider the time context for any coastal processes so that we can provide useful information that is relevant to coastal management.
At time scales of hundreds of millions of years, continental evolutionary processes have less influence on the coast, although many coastal forms may have resulted from older geological processes. For example, the occurrence of large granite erratic boulders along the South Australian gulf coastline does not relate to modern coastal processes but to glacial processes 250 million years ago. Since that time, Australia has split away from Antarctica and is currently drifting north at a rate of approximately 6 cm per year. A coastal classification based on the longer time scale processes of plate tectonics is discussed below.
At time scales of millions of years there have been major changes, such as the rapid climatic and associated sea-level changes of the last two million years during the Quaternary period.
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- Coastal Management in Australia , pp. 19 - 125Publisher: The University of Adelaide PressPrint publication year: 2010