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Glossary
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Below you will find key words and concepts that you should remember from this chapter.
arch (sea arch)  Bridge of rock left above an opening eroded in a headland by waves.
(See page(s) 516)
barrier island  Ridge of sand paralleling the shoreline and extending above sea level.
(See page(s) 516)
baymouth bar  A ridge of sediment that cuts a bay off from the ocean.
(See page(s) 511)
beach  Strip of sediment, usually sand but sometimes pebbles, boulders, or mud, that extends from the low-water line inland to a cliff or zone of permanent vegetation.
(See page(s) 510)
beach face  The section of the beach exposed to wave action.
(See page(s) 510)
berm  Platform of wave-deposited sediment that is flat or slopes slightly landward.
(See page(s) 510)
breaker  A wave that has become so steep that the crest of the wave topples forward, moving faster than the main body of the wave.
(See page(s) 508)
coast  The land near the sea, including the beach and a strip of land inland from the beach.
(See page(s) 514)
coastal straightening  The gradual straightening of an irregular shoreline by wave erosion of headlands and wave deposition in bays.
(See page(s) 515)
crest (of wave)  The high point of a wave.
(See page(s) 507)
estuary  Drowned river mouth.
(See page(s) 518)
fiord  A coastal inlet that is a glacially carved valley, the base of which is submerged.
(See page(s) 518)
headland  Point of land along a coast.
(See page(s) 515)
longshore current  A moving mass of water that develops parallel to a shoreline.
(See page(s) 508)
longshore drift  Movement of sediment parallel to shore when waves strike a shoreline at an angle.
(See page(s) 511)
marine terrace  A broad, gently sloping platform that may be exposed at low tide.
(See page(s) 510)
rip current  Narrow currents that flow straight out to sea in the surf zone, returning water seaward that has been pushed ashore by breaking waves.
(See page(s) 508)
sea cliff  Steep slope that retreats inland by mass wasting as wave erosion undercuts it.
(See page(s) 515)
spit  A fingerlike ridge of sediment attached to land but extending out into open water.
(See page(s) 511)
stack  A small rock island that is an erosional remnant of a headland left behind as a wave-eroded coast retreats inland.
(See page(s) 516)
surf  Breaking waves.
(See page(s) 508)
tombolo  A bar of marine sediment connecting a former island or stack to the mainland.
(See page(s) 512)
trough (of wave)  The low point of a wave.
(See page(s) 507)
wave-cut platform  A horizontal bench of rock formed beneath the surf zone as a coast retreats because of wave erosion.
(See page(s) 516)
wave height  The vertical distance between the crest (the high point of a wave) and the trough (the low point).
(See page(s) 507)
wavelength  The horizontal distance between two wave crests (or two troughs).
(See page(s) 507)
wave refraction  Change in direction of waves due to slowing as they enter shallow water.
(See page(s) 508)







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