Definition
When used as a noun, the coast is part of the land that is
next to or adjoining the shore, a sea, or a large body of
water such as an inland sea or lake. The definition of coast
depends on the jurisdiction or intended use. When used as
“the Coast,” it refers to a specific geographic coastal segment such as the Pacific coast of North America or the
Dutch coast of the Netherlands or even more restrictively
as the Coromandel Coast of southeastern India.
The term coast resides in the vernacular as a generic reference to the strip of land adjacent to large water bodies,
most commonly the sea. While the term covers a broad
sweep between land and water, it at the same time
becomes more complicated and convoluted when applied
in adjectival form as coastal (pertaining to the coast) or
conjoined with the suffix line, making the term coastline,
or preceding a noun as in coastal zone or coastal area (see
below). Associated with coast, coastal, and coastline are
various nuances, inferences, and interdigitations that
come into play depending on the use by geoscientists,
engineers, surveyors, lawyers, and resource managers,
among others. Some of the legion applications of coast
terms and salient types of coasts are indicated in what
follows.
Origins of the term, variable meanings, and
related usage
The term coast is a general expression that, in its simplest
sense, refers to the contact between land and water. The
origin of the term stems from Middle English cost, from
Anglo-French coste, and from Latin costa rib, side, akin
to Old Church Slavic kostĭ bone, with the first known
use in the fourteenth century (Merriam-Webster, 1994).
Defined as the land near a shore, it is implied to be more
or less equivalent to seashore. Other definitions say
“. . .a strip of land that meets the sea or some other large
expanse of water. . . or which extends from the low tide
line inland to the first major change in landform
features. . .” (e.g., Jackson, 1997; Oertel, 2005) or,
according to the FAO, “The geographical area of contact
between the terrestrial and marine environments,
a boundary area of indefinite width, appreciably wider
than the shore” (Cullinan, 2006).
A slightly more rigorous definition of the term coast
involves a relationship with seashore, viz., “A strip of land
of indefinite length and width (may be tens of kilometers)
that extends from the seashore inland to the first major
change in terrain features” (Voigt, 1998). The vernacular
related to the concept of coast is often somewhat confusing because the terms are indefinite, imprecisely defined,
or partially overlap. In the example abstracted from Jackson (1997), the term shore is used to help constrain the
definition of coastline, viz., technically the line that forms
the boundary between the coast and the shore, the shore
being the most seaward part of the coast, but further begs
the question regarding the difference between coastline
and shoreline. Coast, seaside, coastline, and seashore are
all words for the land beside or near to the sea, a river, or
a lake.
Although usually associated with the marine realm of
oceans, seas, gulfs, and fjords, for example, the term
may also be applied to large inland freshwater lakes
(e.g., Great Lakes in North America, Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, Lake Tanganyika [an African Great Lake],
Lake Balaton in the Transdanubian region of Hungary)
and to saline or hypersaline bodies of water such as the
Dead Sea in the Middle East, Great Salt Lake in the western United States, the Aral Sea between Kazakhstan and
Uzbekistan, and so on. The term coast is also often used
in a very general way to refer to some specific geographic
region, physiographic feature, or anthropogenic influence
as, for example, appreciated by the terms Barbary Coast,
Coast Mountains (Canada), Coromandel Coast, Gold
Coast, Ivory Coast, rocky coast, reef coast, muddy coast,
mountain coast, developed coast, Engineered Coasts
(q.v.), and so on.
Coastal zone
The coastal zone is a geographic entity including both terrestrial and submerged areas of the coast, defined legally
or administratively for coastal zone management
(Cullinan, 2006). According to many definitions, the
coastal zone includes parts of landmasses that are under
the direct influence of maritime conditions where the
weather, wildlife, and soils are obviously different from
those of noncoastal areas (Clark, 1996). The coastal zone,
in general, is usually obvious to decipher but when freedoms are restricted and legal issues are involved, an
administrative definition is needed, and this is where
things start to get complicated. Typically, the extent of
coastal waters is defined first, and then a strip of shoreland
is added to interlock land and sea elements (Clark, 1996).
Nicholls and Small (2002), for example, also consider
coastal populations and define the coastal zone as the land
margin within 100 km of the coastline or less than 100 m
above mean low tide, whichever comes first.
The coastal zone can thus be defined in different ways.
In most cases, some combination of distance from the
coast and elevation is used. The Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment (MEA, 2005), for example, used 100 km from
the coast as a distance threshold and 50 m as an elevation
limit, depending on which was closer to the sea.
McGranahan, Balk, and Anderson (2007), on the other
hand, used 10 m elevation contiguous with the coast with
no distance threshold; this procedure mostly delineated
areas closer than 100 km from the sea, but some areas
extended farther inland to define the coastal zone.
Coastal area
From an engineering point of view, the term coastal area
refers to areas of land and sea bordering the shoreline
and extending seaward through the breaker zone (CERC,
1966). The coastal area is also a technical term for
a geographic entity of land and water affected by the
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COASTS
When used as a noun, the coast is part of the land that is
next to or adjoining the shore, a sea, or a large body of
water such as an inland sea or lake. The definition of coast
depends on the jurisdiction or intended use. When used as
“the Coast,” it refers to a specific geographic coastal segment such as the Pacific coast of North America or the
Dutch coast of the Netherlands or even more restrictively
as the Coromandel Coast of southeastern India.
The term coast resides in the vernacular as a generic reference to the strip of land adjacent to large water bodies,
most commonly the sea. While the term covers a broad
sweep between land and water, it at the same time
becomes more complicated and convoluted when applied
in adjectival form as coastal (pertaining to the coast) or
conjoined with the suffix line, making the term coastline,
or preceding a noun as in coastal zone or coastal area (see
below). Associated with coast, coastal, and coastline are
various nuances, inferences, and interdigitations that
come into play depending on the use by geoscientists,
engineers, surveyors, lawyers, and resource managers,
among others. Some of the legion applications of coast
terms and salient types of coasts are indicated in what
follows.
Origins of the term, variable meanings, and
related usage
The term coast is a general expression that, in its simplest
sense, refers to the contact between land and water. The
origin of the term stems from Middle English cost, from
Anglo-French coste, and from Latin costa rib, side, akin
to Old Church Slavic kostĭ bone, with the first known
use in the fourteenth century (Merriam-Webster, 1994).
Defined as the land near a shore, it is implied to be more
or less equivalent to seashore. Other definitions say
“. . .a strip of land that meets the sea or some other large
expanse of water. . . or which extends from the low tide
line inland to the first major change in landform
features. . .” (e.g., Jackson, 1997; Oertel, 2005) or,
according to the FAO, “The geographical area of contact
between the terrestrial and marine environments,
a boundary area of indefinite width, appreciably wider
than the shore” (Cullinan, 2006).
A slightly more rigorous definition of the term coast
involves a relationship with seashore, viz., “A strip of land
of indefinite length and width (may be tens of kilometers)
that extends from the seashore inland to the first major
change in terrain features” (Voigt, 1998). The vernacular
related to the concept of coast is often somewhat confusing because the terms are indefinite, imprecisely defined,
or partially overlap. In the example abstracted from Jackson (1997), the term shore is used to help constrain the
definition of coastline, viz., technically the line that forms
the boundary between the coast and the shore, the shore
being the most seaward part of the coast, but further begs
the question regarding the difference between coastline
and shoreline. Coast, seaside, coastline, and seashore are
all words for the land beside or near to the sea, a river, or
a lake.
Although usually associated with the marine realm of
oceans, seas, gulfs, and fjords, for example, the term
may also be applied to large inland freshwater lakes
(e.g., Great Lakes in North America, Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, Lake Tanganyika [an African Great Lake],
Lake Balaton in the Transdanubian region of Hungary)
and to saline or hypersaline bodies of water such as the
Dead Sea in the Middle East, Great Salt Lake in the western United States, the Aral Sea between Kazakhstan and
Uzbekistan, and so on. The term coast is also often used
in a very general way to refer to some specific geographic
region, physiographic feature, or anthropogenic influence
as, for example, appreciated by the terms Barbary Coast,
Coast Mountains (Canada), Coromandel Coast, Gold
Coast, Ivory Coast, rocky coast, reef coast, muddy coast,
mountain coast, developed coast, Engineered Coasts
(q.v.), and so on.
Coastal zone
The coastal zone is a geographic entity including both terrestrial and submerged areas of the coast, defined legally
or administratively for coastal zone management
(Cullinan, 2006). According to many definitions, the
coastal zone includes parts of landmasses that are under
the direct influence of maritime conditions where the
weather, wildlife, and soils are obviously different from
those of noncoastal areas (Clark, 1996). The coastal zone,
in general, is usually obvious to decipher but when freedoms are restricted and legal issues are involved, an
administrative definition is needed, and this is where
things start to get complicated. Typically, the extent of
coastal waters is defined first, and then a strip of shoreland
is added to interlock land and sea elements (Clark, 1996).
Nicholls and Small (2002), for example, also consider
coastal populations and define the coastal zone as the land
margin within 100 km of the coastline or less than 100 m
above mean low tide, whichever comes first.
The coastal zone can thus be defined in different ways.
In most cases, some combination of distance from the
coast and elevation is used. The Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment (MEA, 2005), for example, used 100 km from
the coast as a distance threshold and 50 m as an elevation
limit, depending on which was closer to the sea.
McGranahan, Balk, and Anderson (2007), on the other
hand, used 10 m elevation contiguous with the coast with
no distance threshold; this procedure mostly delineated
areas closer than 100 km from the sea, but some areas
extended farther inland to define the coastal zone.
Coastal area
From an engineering point of view, the term coastal area
refers to areas of land and sea bordering the shoreline
and extending seaward through the breaker zone (CERC,
1966). The coastal area is also a technical term for
a geographic entity of land and water affected by the
104
COASTS