Chapter 1: The Coastal Area
1.1 The Coastal profile (3)
| European Coasts - An Introductory Survey Chapter 1: The Coastal Area 1.1 The Coastal profile (3) |
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| fig 11: Terminology of a profile of a rocky coast with shingle beach | fig 12: A coloured sandy cliff with shingle beach, Alum Bay, Isle of Wight, UK | fig 13: Rocky coast at Antifer, France |
Shingle beach
A shingle beach is a beach of gravel and pebbles larger than 2 mm. Compared to a sandy beach profile, a shingle beach profile has somewhat different characteristics (see Fig. 11). Instead of an offshore bar, an
offshore step can be formed. Instead of a flat beach with berms, a steeper profile with steps occurs. The slope
of a shingle beach ranges from 1:10 to 1:2.
Rocky coasts
If the land consists of high solid rocky material, the coast will be dominated by cliffs instead of dunes (see Fig.
12 and Fig. 13). The cliffs are formed by the eroding forces of waves and currents. Whether or not a beach will
be present at the foot of the cliff depends on the local wave and current characteristics, as well as on the amount of available sediment either formed by erosion of the cliffs or brought by currents.
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