The Coastal Environment

I. Characteristics of the Coastal Zone

A. The Coastal Zonation
B. The Coastal and Ocean Environment Described

II. Coastal Dynamics

A. Shoaling Waves
B. The Coastal Circulation
C. Coastal Currents
D. Types of Breakers
E. Sand Budget

III. The Coastal Environment

A. Barrier Islands
B. Cliffed Coasts
C. Deltas

The Coastal Environment

The coastal area is the area of the land that continuously touches the sea. It accounts
for about 12.5 % of the Earth‟s surface or about 4 % of the ocean volume.

It also serves as the catch basin for industrial wastes coming from factories and human
wastes.

There are two major divisions of coastal area according to origin or process of
formation.

1. Formed by marine processes such as wave erosion, sediment deposition or

effects of marine plants and animals.

2. Formed by processes acting on land such as coasts formed by volcanoes,

uplift of land due to earthquakes.

The coastal area is very prone to many different processes affecting the earth as
a whole. One of which is the change in sea level. Sea level has been slowly rising since
the last glacial period and it has been rising for centuries. With greenhouse effect, more
rapid increase is expected.
Characteristics of the Coastal Environment

The coastal environment responds to processes acting on it from few hours to few
weeks and even few hundreds of years.

The coastal environment also serves as obstruction to cause upwelling. Without it,
upwelling will only be possible in the surface area.

See figures for further information.

The Major Subdivisions of the Coastal Environment

The coastal environment is further subdivided into six zones. These are the nearshore,
breaker, surf, swash, offshore, and the backshore. See figure for the divisions.

1. The nearshore zone extends from the breaker zone across the surf zone to
the swash zone.

2. The breaker zone is where the waves begin to break.

3. The surf zone is where most of the wave energy is expended.

4. The swash zone is the area covered and uncovered by the water at each
wave surge.

5. The offshore zone is the open water that lies seaward of the nearshore zone.

6. The backshore zone is the land that adjoins the nearshore zone.

Circulation in the Coastal Environment

Circulation in the coastal area happens in the surf zone. This is the area affected
the most by waves.

Most of the waves approach the shoreline at an angle. This direction generates a
refracted wave. Refraction occurs when wave crests bend and become nearly aligned to
the contours of shallow water or sea bottom.

In very shallow regions, the waves become oversteeped and collapse as breakers.
There are three types of breakers.

1. spilling
2. plunging 3. surging.
 As waves strike the beach and release energy, they generate currents in the
shoreline. It is called the longshore currents. The greater the angle of wave approach,
the stronger the longshore current. The direction of this current is dependent on the
angle of the wave approach.

However, if the wave crest is parallel to the shore, a long shore current is still
developed because of the wave set-up even in theory there must be no such current
can be produced. See figure for further information.

The accumulation of this water result to wave set up. Wave set-up is a process that
creates piles of water in the surf zone, usually where breaking waves are the largest.
High water elevations occur where breakers are large and low water elevations where
breakers are small. This characteristic generates a slope. These slopes create a
pressure gradient creating diverging longshore currents. Some longshore currents are
created by refraction as discussed earlier.

If the beach has a variable wave set-up, a nearshore circulation system will develop
consisting of series of diverging and converging longshore currents. These longshore
currents converge where breakers are smallest thus forcing water seaward and
generate the swift, rip currents.

Sediments in beaches and nearshore zones are continually moved by longshore and
rip currents.

The Sand Budget

Sand budget is the estimate of rpincipal sand sources and sand loses for a stretch of
shoreline. The equilibrium states that inputs plus ouputs is equals to zero.

Inputs + Outputs = O (Steady State)

longshore transport longshore transport Accretion

(towards the area) (away from the area) Erosion
river supply offshore transport
cliff/erosion wind transport
onshore transport

Barrier Islands

Barrier Islands are areas where sand supplies are abundant and sea floor slopes
gently. These islands are large deposits of sand that are separated from the mainland
by water of estuaries, bays, and lagoons.
 These islands are continually affected by wave actions. They originate from a sand
ridge, a low lying area where increase of sea level resulted a lagoon, and continuous
accumulation of sand later created a barrier island.

Cliffed Coasts

Cliffed coasts are areas where waves exert powerful forces resulting to the
compressing of air and later rapid expansion and eventually shattering or breaking a cliff
material. It is also created by impacts of stones and gravels, which wears the rock. It
can also be created through dissolution of rock materials such as in the case of
limestone cliffs.

Deltas

Delta is a build up of sediment occurring at the river mouth. It is usually triangular, thus,
the name delta (Δ).
Deltas normally occur when the rate of sediment supply exceeds the rate of
sediment removal by waves and tidal currents.

Deltas are divided into three zones.

1. Delta plain – It is flat lowland that lies at or above sea level. It is

dominated by network of distributaries‟ channels. It may be vegetated,
flooded or ponded.

2. Delta front – shoreline and broad submerged front of the delta.

Typically, submarine canyons are found here.

3. Prodelta – offshore bottom with deposits of inner continental shelf.

There are three types of delta.

1. River-dominated – waves and tides are ineffective in shaping the delta.

2. Wave-dominated – wave energy is relatively high compare to the supply of

river sediments.

3. Tide-dominated – large tidal ranges overshadows river and wave effects.

The Oceanic Environment

I. Major Divisions and Zonations

II. Layered Structure

III. Introduction to Water Masses

IV. Salinity: Evaporation and Precipitation

V. Ocean Climate

VI. Greenhouse Effect

The Oceanic Environment

There are two major subdivisions of the oceanic environment. These are the
following:
1. Benthic Province – sea bottom
2. Pelagic Province – water column

These divisions further subdivides organisms found in the ocean into benthic
organism (bottom-dwelling) and pelagic organism (water-dwelling). It can be further
subdivided into different zones in relation to depth and illumination, which directly and
indirectly affect the distribution of organisms.

The Pelagic Province

1. Neritic Zone – It encompasses shallow waters that overlies the continental
shelves. Light penetrates up to the sea bottom.
2. Oceanic Zone – Deep waters in the open sea beyond the shelf break.

The Oceanic Zone can further be subdivided into the following regions or zones.

a. Epipelagic Zone – Area from the surface to 200 m. usually illuminated

in all depths.
b. Mesopelagic Zone – underlies the epipelagic zone from 200 m to 1000
m. There is a hard trace of sunlight in this zone.
c. Bathypelagic Zone – area from 1000 m to 2000 m.
 d. Abyssalpelagic – from 2000 m to 6000 m. This is the most dominant
marine environment in terms of area.
e. Hadalpelagic – this accounts for area with depths 6000 m or deeper.

Please refer to the figures for further information and overview of this
subdivision.
The Benthic Province

1. Sub littoral zone – the floor of the continental shelf from the beach to the shelf
break.
2. Inter-tidal Zone (Littoral zone) – landward side
3. Bathyhal Zone – from 200 m to 2000 m. It represents the sea bottom that
underlies the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones of the pelagic
environment.
4. Abyssal Zone – sea bottom underlying the abyssal pelagiczone.
5. Hadal Zone – beneath the hadal pelagic

This depth terms corresponds grossly to physical locations such as:

sublittoral – continental shelf baythyal

- continental slope and rise hadal
- deep sea trenches

Division of the Coastal Environment

(Thru illumination)

1. Photic Zone – well lit, plant photosynthesis possible during day time. They
usually attain depth of 100 m.

2. Dysphotic Zone – otherwise known as the “twilight zone”. Only 5% of the

light is absorbed by these area.

3. Aphotic Zone – total darkness

The Open Ocean

Oceanic processes in the open ocean are dominated by incoming solar energy and by
winds. Specifically, Light, Temperature and Salinity control the behavior of the ocean
waters. Their distribution results from absorption of incoming solar radiation. Absorption
of incoming light is called “insolation”.

Insolation at the ocean surface causes a three-layered structure in the open ocean.
These include the following:
 1. The Surface
2. Pycnocline
3. Deep Zones
The surface temperature changes due to seasonal variations in heating, cooling,
evaporating, condensation and precipitation. It contains less dense water. The thickness
of the surface zone reflects the depth of mixing, caused primarily by the winds It is often
called “the mixed layer”.

The pycnocline (pycno = density and cline = slope) is where water density
changes abruptly in relation to depth. It acts as barrier to vertical water movement and
serves as base to surface circulation. It acts as ceiling to the deep zone and prevents
deep ocean waters from readily mixing with the surface waters. In higher latitudes such
as the polar regions, pycnocline is absent.

The Water Mass

Water mass is a large volume of seawater having a discrete identifiable characteristic

(temperature and salinity) that moves through the ocean. Water masses form at the
ocean surface and temperature and salinities reflect surface conditions.

If water mass is denser than surrounding waters, it sinks to a level determined by its
density and density distribution in the nearby ocean. they move with sub-surface
currents often for thousands of kilometers before returning to the surface to exchange
gases with the atmosphere.

Densest water masses in the ocean form where waters of relatively high salinity are
intensely cooled at the ocean surface (usually Polar Regions). If they are dense enough,
they flow through the ocean floor.

Heating and Cooling

Heating occurs in the daylight and the warmest is during the late afternoon. The amount
of energy the ocean absorbs depends on local cloud cover and the sun‟s altitude.

The earth is heated by the sun in the tropics and sub-tropics and cooled by radiating
energy primarily from polar and sub-polar regions. These processes result to
thermocline and consequently halocline.

The Ocean Climate

The ocean climate is subdivided into four regions. These are the tropical, subtropical,
sub-polar, and polar.
 1. Tropical Regions – It is located near the equator. There is only a slight
temperature changes. There is a large excess of precipitation and pycnocline
is shallow.

2. Sub-tropical Regions – from 300 N and 300 S. Trade winds are continuously
blowing. Evaporation exceeds precipitation. This area is the major source of
water vapor. Large seasonal temperatures changes ranges from 6 0 to 180 C in
surface waters. The changes are greatest in the Black Sea. Thermocline is
very deep.

3. Sub-polar Regions – There is an excess precipitation and this area lie in the
belt of strong winds. A well developed halocline forms following high rainfall.
Thermocline develops during summer.

4. Polar Regions – Influenced by seasonal freezing and thawing of sea ice.

Some convective mixing usually occurs in this region.

FISH BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY

The FISH

- the most numerous and most diverse of the major vertebrate group
- dominates the waters of the world through morphological, physiological, and
behavioral adaptations
- this diversity is reflected in the large number of living species (24600 species
described so far and 28500 estimated total number of living species)
- they thrive in an extra ordinary habitat which includes vernal pools,
intermittent streams, tiny desert springs, deep and open oceans, cold
mountain streams, saline coastal embayment and many others

Three Major Lines of Fishes

1. Myxini – the most ancestral; arguments states that these species are not even
vertebrates (example is hagfishes)

2. Cephalospidimorpha – jawless fishes, which gave rise eventually to jawed

species (example is lampreys and they are believed to have lived around
350500 M years ago)

3. Gnathostomata – jawed vertebrates (modern fishes)

a. Placodermi (placoderms) – extinct class

 b. Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous) – sharks
c. Osteichthyes (bony fishes) –

The Cartilaginous Fish is Further Subdivided into Two Distinct Lines

1. Elasmobranchi – sharks and rays

2. Halocephali – ratfishes and chimaeras

The Bony Fishes is Further Subdivided into Three Major Lines

1. Dipnoi – includes the 6 species of lung fishes
2. Coelacanthiformes – coelacanth
3. Actinopterygii – ray-finned species

a. Chondrostei – birchirs, sturgeons, paddlefishes

b. Neopterygii – modern species (22000 species)

VERY IMPORTANT STATISTICS

58 % of the total number of species is found in marine

41 % are in freshwater
1 % move regularly between the two environments
(the diversity in freshwater is brought by the isolation of habitats, thus higher opportunity
to evolve into a different species)

of the 58 % total marine species

13 % is associated in with the open oceans (1% in the surface, 5 % in the unlighted
sections, and 7 % on the bottom
45 %of all fishes live in the normal band of water 200 m or less

(Most fish are readily recognizable as fish despite of the diversity of adaptations. This is
due to the physical and chemical characteristics of seawater (or freshwater) which
imposes a number of constraints on functional design)
FEEDING NUTRITION DIGESTION AND EXCRETION

Classification of Fish by Feeding Habits

1. Detritivores
2. Herbivores
3. Carnivores
4. Omnivores

It can also be classified into the following groups

1. Euryphagus – mixed diet

2. Stenopahgus – limited assortment
3. Monophagus – one sort of food

Feeding is associated with digestive apparatus and body form. Longer guts are
typical on detritus feeders while carnivores usually have shorter guts. Fish needs
proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates for growth (anabolism) and for energy to run the
body (catabolism).

GROWTH

Growth refers to the change in size (length or weight) over time. The following are
factors affecting growth. Generally the higher these factors are, the slower the growth
rate of the fish. Growth regulation in most cases, depend on photperiodicity and other
environmental factors.

1. temperature
2. dissolved oxygen
3. ammonia
4. salinity
5. competition
6. food availability
7. age at maturity

REPRODUCTION
The success of any fish species is ultimately determined by the ability of its members to
reproduce successfully in a fluctuating environment to maintain viable populations. The
main reproductive organ for fishes is the GONADS.
BREEDING BEHAVIOUR
The classification of breeding behavior is based on their methods of reproduction and
the means by which fish protect their developing embryos and the young.

A. NON GUARDERS
Non-guarders usually spawn in an open substrate. They simply scatter their eggs.
Others are brood hiders. After spawning, they hide their eggs in the sand or in the mud
for protection. Types of non-guarders are enumerated below.
1. Pelagic spawners – common among marine fish (scombrids, clupeids). The
buoyancy of their eggs is due to the presence of oil globules and high fecundities
is apparent to compensate for the high mortality.

2. Benthic Spawners – eggs are usually with adhesive mechanism

3. Brood hiders – hide their eggs by excavating nests

B. GUARDERS
Guard embryos until they hatch. These are exemplified by NEST SPAWNERS which
constructs a nest. Their they lay their eggs and after fertilized by male fish the male
starts to incubate them by fanning currents of water across the eggs.

C. BEARERS
This includes fish that carry their embryos either externally or internally. Most common
example of this is the seahorse.

1. Oviparous – egg laying

2. Oviviparous – eggs are retained by females and all sources of nutrition is the egg
yolk
3. Viviparous – giving birth to active young

LIFE HISTORY
The following is the life stages of a fish.
1. EMBRYONIC PERIOD – period in which developing individual is entirely
dependent on the nutrition provided by the mother by means of yolk or
placentalike connection
a. Cleavage phase – from first cell division to recognizable predecessors of
the organ system
b. Embryonic phase – embryo is recognizable as a vertebrate
c. Free embryo phase – free of the egg membrane
 2. LARVAL PERIOD – signified by the appearance of the ability to capture food
organisms and ends when axial skeleton and the embryonic median fin fold is
formed. It is the period of highest mortality.

3. JUVENILE PERIOD – the period of „metamorphosis‟ and development of organ

systems are formed

4. ADULT PERIOD – once the gonads are mature, a fish is considered adult.

5. SENESCENT PERIOD – growth has virtually stopped

ALTERNATIVE REPRODUCTIVE STRATEGIES

1. Alternative male strategies – sneaking behavior in salmon
2. Hermaphroditism – known in at least 14 families of fish
a. Synchronous – two reproductive tissues are present in an individual at a
given period
b. Sequential – individuals which changes sex at different stages or
situations of their lives
3. Parthenogenesis – all female fish populations of some mollies (Poecillidae) in
Amazon rivers
4. Hybridogenesis –

SENSORY PERCEPTION

CHEMORECEPTION – generally for odors and tastes

1. OLFACTION – receptors are located in the olfactory pits which is connected to
the nares, these are very important for locating spawning streams.

2. TASTE – gustatory chemoreception is due to the sensors or taste receptors

located not only in the mouth but also in the skin, fins, and barbels. These are
used in locating food.

ACOUSTICO-LATERALIS SYSTEM – used for sound vibrations and even water

displacement. Two main components include the inner ear and the neuromast(lateral
line system)
1. INNER EAR – this generally used for sound detection. However, a part of it
called SEMICRICULAR CANALS is used for spatial equilibrium and balance of
fish
 2. LATERAL LINE – provides FERNTASTSINN or distant touch sense and usually
for detection of water displacement

ELECTROPERCEPTION
External pit organs are attached to the skin to detect minute electrical currents in water.
In sharks it is called the AMPULLAE of LORENZINI.

VISION AND PHOTORECEPTION

The eye is the primary receptor site of light from its surroundings. The pineal organ is
also sensitive to light and appears to control circadian rhythmicity of fishes.

BEHAVIOR

MIGRATORY BEHAVIOR
Migratory behavior in fishes can be associated to different reasons such as locating
feeding and spawning area and in some cases due to changes in environmental
conditions.

THREE MAIN TYPES

1. OCEANODROMY – migration entirely in seawater
2. POTAMODROMY – migration entirely in freshwater
3. DIADROMY – migration is either in fresh or marine
a. CATADROMY – from freshwater to seawater to spawn
b. ANADROMY – from seawater to freshwater to spawn
c. AMPHIDROMY – between the two environments for purposes other than
spawning

SCHOOLING
It is a social behavior of fish tending number of individuals to remain together. It
can be either polarized (schooling) or unpolarized (amorphous mass).

Reasons for Schooling

1. Hydrodynamic Efficiency – regular spacing tends to lessen drag
2. Reduce Predation Risk
3. Increased Efficiency in Food finding (more noses is better than one) 4.
Reproduction (less time finding for mate)
FEEDING BEHAVIOR
Optimal foraging is exercised by fishes. It is the taking of highest quality of food at
lowest possible energy cost.

AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR
In some cases fish becomes aggressive when food availability is at stake. In some
gobies, studies show that food availability offsets the cost of patrolling a territory and
chasing away intruders.

RESTING BEHAVIOR
Most species of fish spend a good part of each 24 hour period in an inactive
state. Herring tends to school at day time and spend their night time in an amorphous
mass to conserve energy.