Book description
The coastal zone is one of the most dynamic environments on our planet and is much affected by global change, especially sea-level rise. Coastal environments harbour valuable ecosystems, but they are also hugely important from a societal point of view. This book, which draws on the expertise of 21 leading international coastal scientists, represents an up-to-date account of coastal environments and past, present and future impacts of global change. The first chapter of the book outlines key principles that underpin coastal systems and their behaviour. This is followed by a discussion of key processes, including sea level change, sedimentation, storms, waves and tides, that drive coastal change. The main part of the book consists of a discussion of the main coastal environments (beaches, dunes, barriers, salt marshes, tidal flats, estuaries, coral reefs, deltas, rocky and glaciated coasts and coastal groundwater), and how these are affected by global change. The final chapter highlights strategies for coping with coastal change.
Readership: final year undergraduate and postgraduate-level students on coastal courses in a wide range subjects, including geography, environmental management, geology, oceanography and coastal/civil engineering. The book will also be a valuable resource for researchers and applied scientists dealing with coastal environments.
Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/masselink/coastal
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Contributors
- 1 Introduction to Coastal Environments and Global Change
- 2 Sea Level
-
3 Environmental Control
- 3.1 Geology and sediments: setting boundary conditions for coasts
-
3.2 Geology and coasts
- 3.2.1 The pervasive role of plate tectonics
- 3.2.2 The role of Quaternary ice sheets and isostatic rebound on high-latitude coasts
- 3.2.3 Water loading of continental shelves
- 3.2.4 Lithology, sediment texture and coasts
- 3.2.5 Other regional to local boundary conditions: coastal orientation and gradient
-
3.3 Sediments and coasts
- 3.3.1 Coastal sediment stacking over time: sequence stratigraphy and sea-level change
- 3.3.2 Sediment accommodation space
- 3.3.3 Terrigenous sediment supply
- 3.3.4 Sediment redistribution from river-mouth to coast
- 3.3.5 Carbonate sediments
- 3.3.6 Sediment supply from soft cliffs
- 3.3.7 Longshore sediment transport
- 3.3.8 Sediment supply from the inner continental shelf
- 3.3.9 Boulders on the shore: an enigmatic issue
- 3.4 Human impacts on sediment supply to coasts
- 3.5 Climate change, geology and sediments
- 3.6 Summary
- Key publications
- References
- 4 Drivers
- 5 Coastal Hazards
- 6 Coastal Groundwater
- 7 Beaches
- 8 Coastal Dunes
-
9 Barrier Systems
- 9.1 Definition and description of barriers and barrier systems
- 9.2 Classification
- 9.3 Barrier sub-environments
- 9.4 Theories on barrier formation
- 9.5 Modes of barrier behaviour
-
9.6 Drivers in barrier development and behaviour
- 9.6.1 Introduction
- 9.6.2 Antecedent topography and substrate lithology
- 9.6.3 Relative sea-level change
- 9.6.4 Sediment sources, sinks and fluxes
- 9.6.5 Wind, waves, longshore and cross-shore currents, and tides
- 9.6.6 Storm surges
- 9.6.7 River discharge
- 9.6.8 Climate
- 9.6.9 Flora and fauna
- 9.6.10 Processes and impacts of anthropogenic activities
- 9.7 Barrier sequences as archives of barrier behaviour
- 9.8 Lessons from numerical and conceptual models
- 9.9 Coastal-zone management and global change
- 9.10 Future perspectives
- 9.11 Summary
- Key publications
- References
-
10 Tidal Flats and Salt Marshes
- 10.1 Introduction
- 10.2 Tidal flats
-
10.3 Salt marshes
- 10.3.1 Salt-marsh ecology
- 10.3.2 Salt-marsh vegetation and biogeography
- 10.3.3 Salt-marsh zonation and succession
- 10.3.4 Geomorphological and ecosystem functioning
- 10.3.5 The role of sedimentation and tides in salt-marsh maintenance
- 10.3.6 Response to sea-level changes
- 10.3.7 Impact of future climate and sea-level change
- 10.4 Human influences
- 10.5 Summary
- Key publications
- References
-
11 Mangrove Shorelines
- 11.1 Introduction
- 11.2 Mangrove adaptation in relation to climate zones
- 11.3 Mangrove biogeography
- 11.4 Zonation and succession
- 11.5 Geomorphological setting and ecosystem functioning
- 11.6 Sedimentation and morphodynamic feedback
- 11.7 Mangrove response to sea-level change
- 11.8 Human influences
- 11.9 Impact of future climate and sea-level change
- 11.10 Summary
- Key publications
- References
- 12 Estuaries and Tidal Inlets
-
13 Deltas
- 13.1 Deltas: definition, context and environment
- 13.2 Delta sub-environments
- 13.3 The morphodynamic classification of river deltas
- 13.4 Sediment trapping processes in deltas and coastal sediment redistribution
- 13.5 Delta initiation, development and destruction
- 13.6 Syn-sedimentary deformation in deltas and ancient deltaic deposits
- 13.7 Deltas, human impacts, climate change and sea-level rise
- 13.8 Summary
- Key publications
- References
-
14 High-Latitude Coasts
- 14.1 Introduction to high-latitude coasts
- 14.2 Ice-related coastal processes
- 14.3 Terrestrial ice in coastal environments
- 14.4 Coastal geomorphology and coastal responses
- 14.5 Relative sea-level change
- 14.6 Climate change predictions and impacts for high-latitude coasts
- 14.7 Future perspectives
- 14.8 Summary
- Key publications
- References
- 15 Rock Coasts
- 16 Coral Reefs
- 17 Coping with Coastal Change
- Supplemental Images
- Geographical Index
- Subject Index
- Access the Companion Website
- End User License Agreement
Product information
- Title: Coastal Environments and Global Change
- Author(s):
- Release date: June 2014
- Publisher(s): Wiley-Blackwell
- ISBN: 9780470656594
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