Topics to be covered:

Competition For Coasts

Coping With The Pressure
Increasing Risk
Coastal Management
Fieldwork & Research Zakynthos

AIMS
To understand that physical factors create a
variety of different coastal environments
To consider how humans use different
coastal environments and how they can also
threaten them

Key Question to consider:

Why do coasts vary so much?

Mangrove

Tropical Coastline

Salt Marsh

Polar Coastline

Desert Coastline

A coast is that part of the land most

affected by its proximity to the sea and
that part of the ocean most affected by
its proximity to the land.
It is called the Zone of Transition.
The coastline is the frontier between the
sea and the land.
The coast is on either side of the
coastline in 2 zones....

Onshore zone it extends up to 60km inland

COASTLINE
Offshore zone reaches as far out as the
Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ) which is
370.4km out to sea. The coastal state has
the rights all over the natural resources of the
water and the sea bed

What is the difference between the

coastline and the coastal zone?

The coast is an open system with inputs,

transfers and outputs
When all the inputs and outputs are equal
it is said to be in DYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM
If one element changes then all the
internal equilibrium is disturbed
Human activity does this a lot on the coast
Global warming also increases storms and
rising sea levels increase coastal erosion
and flooding

Look at the set of photos in front of

you.
a) Physical features shown?
Think about:
Topography shape of the coast
Geology rock type
Relief height or slope of the land
b)The human activities going on there and
why this location has been chosen.

Exercise : Identify the features,

opportunities, value and pressures for
each of the following:

Reefs

Mangroves

Salt Marshes

Low trees and shrubs with dense

roots that grow in the marginal
tidal zones between TROPICAL
and SUBTROPICAL seas and land.
Roots exposed at low tide and
they trap silt and create new
land.
Adapted to area due to thick
waxy leaves which conserve
water by reducing transpiration
during low tide.
Salt tolerant halophytes .
Protects against storm surges and
tsunamis.
Also provides fuel, timber for
building.
Cleared for shrimp aquaculture

http://mangroveactionproject.org/issues/m
angrove-loss

We have already lost over half of the world's original mangrove

forest area, estimated at 32 million hectares (app. 80 million acres).
In 2007, less than 15 million hectares (37 million acres) of
mangroves remained.
About half of mangrove loss has occurred in the last 50 years,
mostly in the last two decades, due to:
shrimp farming
tourism
urbanisation
agriculture expansion
roadways
Marinas and other intrusive developments.
The current rate of mangrove loss is approximately 1% per annum
(according to the Food and Agriculture Organization - FAO), or
roughly 150,000 hectares (370,050 acres) of mangrove wetlands
lost each year.

Coral are living organism

called polyps, are tiny animals
that resemble a miniature sea
anemone, that secrete a
limestone (Calcium
Carbonate) base
3 types of reef: Fringe,
barrier reefs and atolls.
Charles Darwin first found
these three and realised
they were different stages
of a sequence

Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the

worlds largest coral reef at 1500km long
and comprises of 2900 different reefs
Helps dissipate wave energy
Fragile and open to exploitation

Conditions necessary for reef growth

Coral reefs are found largely between the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer where:
water temperatures are warm. Corals are unable to thrive in water that is much
below 16 C and grow best with a range of 18-30 C. In the tropics there is little
annual variation in sea temperature. (But coral reefs are either restricted or
absent from along the west coast of the Americas, as well as the west coast of
Africa. This is due primarily to upwelling and strong cold coastal currents that
reduce water temperatures in these areas.)
salinity is at favourable level. Freshwater kills coral and this is clearly seen where
rivers flow out into coastal reef areas. Corals are restricted from off the coastline
of South Asia from Pakistan to Bangladesh. They are also restricted along the
coast around north-eastern South America and Bangladesh due to the release of
vast quantities of freshwater from the Amazon and Ganges Rivers respectively.
.

clear water prevails. Silt that discharges at a river mouth

will blanket the coral and affect the feeding mechanism of
the corals and animals on the reef. For example at the
mouth of the Amazon coral reef is absent due to the huge
quantities of silt that are released.
brightly lit waters that are fully penetrated by the suns
rays. So corals are restricted to depths rarely exceeding
37metres. Beyond this limit too little light is absorbed and
the algae that feed the corals cannot be supported

See worksheet on the blog and text

books

Occur in estuaries where fresh water and sea waters

mix.
Defined as the vegetation that occurs on muddy
shores where boggy ground is either flooded by sea
water daily or less often.
Form on the shore due to a lack of wave action and
the tide.
Incoming tide moves across the sheltered shore
bringing sediment and detritus, the lack of wave
action results in this material settling out at slack
water.
Accretion takes place; sediment builds up forming
soil and can even raise the level of mud.

Abiotic Factors: (Non Living)

Saline Mud/Soil: Seawater deposits salts (solutes) in the
sediment. Causing problems for plants growing.
Waterlogged Soil: The air spaces within the soil are
filled with water rather than air. Roots need oxygen for
respiration as much as other parts of the plant. Longterm waterlogging creates an anaerobic condition of
black mud, which is toxic to plants.
Drag and Scour: The tidal movement across the surface
causes a sideways drag on the plant. With two tides a
day this will possibly uproot the plants. The water
contains sediment like sand and mud particles and this
will scour the plants like being buffed with sandpaper.

Biotic (living)

Salt tolerant plants grow - Halophytes. May even be submerged

for part of the day.
See Pearson p165

Valuable ecosystems as reduce tidal energy and provide a vital

habitat to many wading birds.
Threats

Reclamation eg for farming

Industrial pollution

Agricultural pollution causes eutrophication

Shipping and bating causes wash which leads to die back in

vegetation

Marinas and recreation adds pressure

Global warming high impact storms, changing temperature and

rainfall affects the plants and sea level change.

Fill in the sheets about the

features,
value,
opportunities
and pressures
of these 3 high value ecosystems

Sorting out succession..on your Pearson

CD ROM