With reference to case studies, explain how sea level change influences coastal processes.

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With reference to case studies, explain how sea level change influences coastal processes.

There are any factors which can influence processes and landforms at coasts all around the world. Generally, sea level change can influence the processes so much that it can determine the overall shape of the coastline. This essay will be looking at how sea level change can affect coasts whilst looking at the areas which have been created or affected by it.

Sea level change is mostly due to climate change. If the climate drops, it can cause areas of sea or ocean to freeze causing the formation of ice caps or glaciers, causing a large drop in sea level. However, after this period of low climate, or an ice age, climate rises again, meaning the ice caps melt, causing a rise in sea level. Thus, sea level can fall and rise as a result of climate change. As well as this, water can expand and contract dependent on the air temperature which can also constantly change sea level. Finally, landforms can be affected by two other factors. Eustatic adjustment is the first, and this is when the sea level moves up and down, whereas isostatic adjustment is where land rises or falls, mostly due to earthquakes. Primarily, this essay will be looking at areas affected by falling sea levels.

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Falling sea level can cause coastlines to retract and can expose new land. For example, a characteristic of West Scotland is raised beaches, a eustatic adjustment. Raised beaches are wave cut platforms or beaches that have risen above the shore line by a relative fall in sea level. The wave cut platforms and beaches rise above the reach of the waves. This therefore influences processes and landforms as erosion slows as waves have to travel further and by the time they reach land or cliffs, the energy from the waves has dissipated. Therefore, the coast is either added to or ...

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