coast
Sign in to savethumb|Sunrise on the [[Jersey Shore coastline at Spring Lake, New Jersey, U.S.]] thumb|Rugged coastline of the West Coast, New Zealand|West Coast Region of New Zealand A view of the plain near Dikili in Turkey|thumb thumb|Southeast coast of Greenland thumb|Escorca coast, [[Serra de Tramuntana (Balearic Islands)]]
AI overview
A coast is the boundary where land meets the ocean or sea, and it can take many different forms depending on the location—from sandy shores like the Jersey Shore to rugged rocky cliffs like those found in New Zealand and Greenland. Coasts matter because they are dynamic environments where land and water interact, creating distinctive landscapes and ecosystems that support human settlements, wildlife, and various economic activities.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
37 sectionsContents
- Size
- Challenges of precisely measuring the coastline
- Formation {{anchor|Formation of Coasts}}
- Importance for humans and ecosystems
- Human settlements
- Tourism
- Ecosystem services
- Types
- Emergent coastline
- Concordant coastline
- High and low energy coasts
- Destructive and constructive waves
- Rivieras
- Other coastal categories
- Landforms
- Cliff erosion
- Coastal features formed by sediment
- Coastal features formed by another feature
- Other features on the coast
- Coastal waters
- In geology
- Geologic processes
- Wildlife
- Animals
- Coastal fish
- Plants
- Threats
- Pollution
- Marine pollution
- Marine debris
- Microplastics
- Sea level rise due to climate change
- Global goals
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|Sunrise on the [[Jersey Shore coastline at Spring Lake, New Jersey, U.S.]] thumb|Rugged coastline of the West Coast, New Zealand|West Coast Region of New Zealand A view of the plain near Dikili in Turkey|thumb thumb|Southeast coast of Greenland thumb|Escorca coast, [[Serra de Tramuntana (Balearic Islands)]]
A coast (also called the coastline, shoreline, or seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, such as that caused by waves. The geological composition of rock and soil dictates the type of shore that is created. Earth has about of coastline.