Oceanography Chapter 12 - Essay Example

Oceanography There are a number of things that the 12th Chapter has been able to teach me about the ocean and other relating factors. One of the topics that have stood out is the issue of the different types of coasts and influencing factors that have contributed to their formation. These coasts have been formed by the various processes that occur in nature including issues such as the rise in sea levels and erosive forces that also play a part in forming the shape of the particular coastline that they occur in (Garrison 354).

One of the more interesting subject in this topic was the relation of the change in sea level to that of the coastline and the fact that it is believed that the coastlines that are present today have not yet achieved an equilibrium with the current sea levels and thus a change in the aforementioned coastlines are still expected when this equilibrium is attained. This could result in driving the coast inland when this happens should the sea levels continue to rise due to global warming (Garrison 356).

Another interesting factor are the features that are formed on the coast as a result of the erosive forces that take place such as Sea Cliffs, Sea Waves and Blowholes that occur as a result of the shore being submitted to constant wave battering (Garrison 356). The process of how beaches are formed is another interesting topic in this book in relation to the transportation process of sediment onto the shore by waves (Garrison 364). The various factors that influence the transportation of the sediments have also proved to be an interesting factor with processes such as the longshore drift proving essential in the transportation of these sediment further inward thus improving the size overall size of the coast as a result (Garrison 364).

The involvement of the waves as well as the currents show how different parts of nature work together to form the various features that are found on the beach. The change in the character of the shores from erosive to depositional shows the ability of nature to adapt to changing facilities in order to avoid any permanent damage. This is seen as after a while, beaches characteristics change from erosive to depositional in order to prevent any more erosion from taking place (Garrison 360). The material that beaches are made of and the relation to the various processes that form them show how not every beach is similar in nature and will depend on the location and material that is available in that region.

A good example is the beaches of Hawaii that contain rare black sand that is made of finely fragmented lava (Garrison 361). This sand is not found on most other beaches due to the fact that they do not have a Volcano nearby and thus no lava is deposited on the beach as a result. The lava is turned into black sand through the erosive processes that occur on the coast. All in all, the book opens up one’s view to the various processes that are required for one to be able to enjoy the beaches that have been formed up to today and the potential of what could happen in the future.Answers1. Rip Currents2.

Increase in size3. Human dominated4. Foreshore5. Higher than6. Mountain is to range7. 3.0  1048. a retreating shoreline9. dissolution10. steeper, coarser11. Maine Coastline12. young, old13. sea caves14. splash15. b & C (the current-driven movement of sand in the surf zone just offshore and the wave-driven movement of sand along the exposed beach)16. rivers or streams, submarine canyon17. barrier islands18. Drowned river mouths19. Salt-wedge estuaries20. Barrier reefsReferenceGarrison, Tom.

Essentials of Oceanography. Belmont: Cengage Learning, Inc, 2008. Print.