![Monkey Bay](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Monkey_Bay.jpg)
A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of
land
Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isla ...
at the edge of a large
body of water
A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such a ...
, such as an
ocean
The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...
,
sea
The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...
, or
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
. In
physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past and present, while the
beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...
is at the edge of the shore, representing the
intertidal zone where there is one. In contrast to a
coast
The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...
, a shore can border any body of water, while the coast must border an ocean or a sea. Therefore, in that sense, a coast is a type of shore. However, the word "coast" often refers to an area far wider than the shore, often stretching miles into the interior.
Shores are influenced by the
topography
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.
Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...
of the surrounding landscape, as well as by water induced
erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...
, such as
waves
Waves most often refers to:
*Waves, oscillations accompanied by a transfer of energy that travel through space or mass.
*Wind waves, surface waves that occur on the free surface of bodies of water.
Waves may also refer to:
Music
*Waves (band) ...
. The
geological
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other E ...
composition of
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
and
soil
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt
Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty.
Common types of dirt include:
* Debri ...
dictates the type of shore which is created.
Rivieras
''Riviera'' is an Italian word for "shoreline",
ultimately derived from Latin ''ripa'' ("riverbank"). It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of the
Ligurian Sea
The Ligurian Sea ( it, Mar Ligure; french: Mer Ligurienne; lij, Mâ Ligure) is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. It lies between the Italian Riviera (Liguria) and the island of Corsica. The sea is thought to have been named after the ancient ...
, in the form ''riviera ligure'', then shortened to ''riviera''. Historically, the Ligurian Riviera extended from Capo Corvo (Punta Bianca) south of
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
, north and west into what is now
French territory past
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
and sometimes as far as
Marseilles.
Today, this coast is divided into the
Italian Riviera
The Italian Riviera or Ligurian Riviera ( it, Riviera ligure; lij, Rivêa lìgure) is the narrow coastal strip in Italy which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines. Longitudinall ...
and the
French Riviera, although the French use the term "Riviera" to refer to the Italian Riviera and call the French portion the "Côte d'Azur".
As a result of the fame of the Ligurian rivieras, the term came into English to refer to any shoreline, especially one that is sunny, topographically diverse and popular with tourists.
Such places using the term include the
Australian Riviera
The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the nati ...
in
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
and the
Turkish Riviera
The Turkish Riviera ( tr, Türk Rivierası), also known popularly as the Turquoise Coast, is an area of southwest Turkey encompassing the provinces of Antalya and Muğla, and to a lesser extent Aydın, southern İzmir and western Mersin. Th ...
along the
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...
.
See also
* Offshore or
Intertidal zone
*
Ballantine Scale
*
Coastal path
*
Shorezone
References
Further reading
* Anders, F.J., and Byrnes, M.R. (1991) Accuracy of shoreline change rates as determined from maps and aerial photographs ''Shore and Beach'', v. 59, no. 1, pp. 17–26.
* Anthony, Edward J. (2008) ''Shore Processes and their Palaeoenvironmental Applications'' Elsevier, Amsterdam,
* Boaden, Patrick J. S. and Seed, Raymond (1985) ''An Introduction to Coastal Ecology'' Blackie, Glasgow,
* Bothner, M.H., and Butman, Bradford. (2007) ''Processes influencing the transport and fate of contaminated sediments in the coastal ocean—Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay'', U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1302, pp. 1–89.
* Dean, R.G. (1991) Equilibrium beach profiles—characteristics and applications ''Journal of Coastal Research'', v. 7, no. 1, pp. 53–84.
* Komar, P.D. (1996) The Budget of Littoral Sediments—Concepts and Applications ''Shore and Beach'', v. 64, pp. 18–26.
*
* Stauble, D.K. and Brumbaugh, R.W. (2003) An Assessment of the Nation's Shorelines, USA ''Shore and Beach'' v. 71, no. 3, pp. 11–18.
* Stockdon, H.F., Sallenger, A.H., List, J.H., and Holman, R.A. (2002) Estimation of shoreline position and change using airborne topographic lidar data ''Journal of Coastal Research'', v. 18, no. 3, pp. 502–513.
* Thieler, E.R., Pilkey, O.H., Young, R.S., Bush, D.M., and Chai, F. (2000) The use of mathematical models to predict beach behavior for U.S. coastal engineering—A critical review ''Journal of Coastal Research'', v. 16, no. 1, pp. 48–70.
External links
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Physical geography