7.2 Waves: Water on the Move

The top left corner is the path of water particles. The top right is the surf zone (the peak is travelling faster than the base). The bottom left is deep water, the bottom is the shallow depth (the wavelength decreases, the wave height increases). The middle right is the beach.

At the top left are ripples, which chop waves. In the centre on the top are fully developed seas, and a changing to swell in on the top right. The wind is at the bottom left, the length of fetch at the very bottom and the direction of the waves on the right.

At the top is a spilling wave, which breaks far from the shore with gentle slope. In the middle is a plunging wave, which break on beaches where the slope is moderately steep - they form 'tubes' which are good for surfing. And at the bottom is a surging wave, which occurs on steep beaches and causes erosion.

At the top is Wavelength, at the tops of the waves are Crests, between the waves is Wave height and at the bottom is trough.

Coastal Management Questions 7.1

Describe how the settlement plan of Australia is related to issues in the coastal environment?

Australians have mostly settled on the coast throughout our history - even today, 85% of Australians live within 50 kilometres of the coastline. Such heavy concentration of coastal lifestyles has a great effect on the coastal environment Therefore great attention needs to be paid to these issues.

Why is the sustainable development of the coastline the aim of coastal management strategies?

To preserve the coastline for future generations, more and more of which will be living increasingly coastal lifestyles.

What trend has been labelled ‘sea change’?

When people move from larger cities to smaller coastal towns for the more relaxed lifestyle.

Describe one government response to ‘sea change?

Residential caps in some towns have been placed to curb overdevelopment in the area.

Select four of the geographical issues facing the coastal environment presented in this unit. For each issue identify the human actions that cause the issue?

1. Pollution - When people carelessly litter without thinking of the consequences of their actions, they cause mass pollution problems that continue to be pressing issues across many beaches.

2. Tourism and Recreational Pressures - The attraction of the beach and the economic benefits that accompany can be detrimental to the environment, notably through littering.

3. Introduced Plants - Introduced species have always been a problem for the Australian environment, and the effect on the coastline can be bad through the domination of local species of plant.

4. Inappropriate Development - This has become a large problem in recent years and councils are making efforts to curb this.

What role do geographers play in developing management solutions to issues in coastal environments? Authorities such as councils and governments often enlist the help of experts in geographical fields in order to attain a balanced perspective on what issues may have arisen.

Find an example that you and/or others feel in an example of inappropriate development. Describe why this is considered inappropriate. Give one way that this type of development can be fixed? In Adelaide, the Holdfast Shores development was created, and, although very beneficial to tourists and residents of the complex, locals feel this creation has stained the aesthetic of the beach area. Local councils and state governments should be taking action to disapprove or at least curb the scale of such development.