Coast

The coast is defined as the part of the land adjoining or near the ocean. A coastline is properly, a line on a map indicating the disposition of a coast but the word is often used to refer to the coast itself. The adjective, coastal describes something as being on, near or having to do with a coast.

See also

Coastal landforms & features

• arch — archipelago
• bar — barrier island — bay — beach — boondock
• cape — cave — cliff — cove
• delta — dune system
• estuary
• fjord
• gulf
• headland
• island — island arc
• lagoon
• mud flat
• peninsula
• raised beach — ria
• salt marsh — sea — spit — stack — stump
• tombolo
• wave cut cliff — wave cut notch — wave cut platform
• How long is a coastline?

Processes

• attrition
• currents
• denudation — deposition
• erosion
• flooding
• longshore drift
• saltation — sea level change (eustatic — isostatic) — sedimentation — sediment transportation — solution — sub-aerial processes — suspension
• tides
• waves — weathering

Related topics & articles

• Coral reefs
• Earth science
• Geography — Geology — Geomorphology
• How Long Is the Coast of Britain? Statistical Self-Similarity and Fractional Dimension
• Marine biology
• Ocean
• geography
• Coastal management

Famous coasts

• Gold Coast (Ghana)
• Grain Coast (Liberia)
• Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
• Slave Coast (Benin)
• Skeleton Coast of Namibia
• Barbary Coast in the Maghreb, the coastal plain of North Africa
• Gold Coast, Australia
• Gold Coast, Florida and "Gold Coast" of Long Island, among other luxurious "Gold Coast" marine resorts
• Italian Riviera - Italy
• Jurassic Coast (England)
• West Coast, New Zealand
• East Coast of the United States
• West Coast of the United States
• Costa Brava and Costa del Sol, the Mediterranean coasts of Spain
• Côte d'Azur, the French Riviera of France
• Adriatic Coast of Croatia and neighbouring countries
• The North Slope of coastal Alaska