Stack Formation (Animation)

 Here is an animation (claymation) of stack formation along a coast.

Coastal Erosion (Animation)

 Here is a video animation (claymation) of coastal erosion.

Book Preview: "The Edge of the Sea" by Rachel Carson

In The Edge of the Sea, the author Rachel Carson expressed her awe and appreciation of coastal environments. The following is an excerpt from her book:

"The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place. All through the long history of Earth it has been an area of unrest where waves have broken heavily against the land, where the tides have broken heavily against the land, where the tides have pressed forward over the continents, receded, and then returned. For no two successive days is the shore line precisely the same. Not only do the tides advance and retreat in their eternal rhythms, but the level of the sea itself is never at rest. It rises or falls as the glaciers melt or grow, as the floor of the deep ocean basins shifts under its increasing load of sediments, or as the earth's crust along the continental margins warps up or down in adjustment to strain and tension. Today a little more land may belong to the sea, tomorrow a little less. Always the edge of the sea remains an elusive and indefinable boundary."

Longshore Drift (Video)

This video describes longshore drift and groynes.

Swash and Backwash (Short Video)

Here is a short 12-second video clip that shows swash and backwash along a beach.