Geological Work of Seas and Oceans

ENGINEERING GEOLOGY

Seas and Oceans

Sea Ocean Seashore Oceanography

Marine Geology

Oceanic Relief
Continental Shelf

Continental Slope
Abyssal Plane

Submarine Canyons

claseshistoria.com

The Global Continental Shelf (cyan)

http://en.wikipedia.org

The Sea waves and currents

Waves
Oscillatory (deep water) waves Translatory (shallow water) waves Currents Littoral/Longshore Currents Rip Currents

Thompson & Turk

Wave movement and breaking

Marine Erosion
Erosion is done through:
o Hydraulic action breaking, loosening and plucking out of rocks by waves and currents o Marine abrasion rubbing and grinding action o Corrosion solvent action of seawater

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Factors influencing Marine Erosion

Strength and velocities of waves and currents The lithology of the rocks The seaward slope of the shoreline

The depth and chemical composition of water

The height and original profile of the shoreline

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Features of Marine Erosion

Headlands and bays

Sea cliffs
Wave-cut terraces

Sea caves

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a. Headlands and bays

Soft rocks along a coastline gets eroded faster
than harder ones Seawater enters the eroded portions, forming bays The stronger rocks, which resist erosion, project outwards, and are called headlands

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Headlands and bay

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Headlands and bay

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b. Sea Cliffs
A seaward facing steep front is called a sea
cliff They represent the first stage of work of waves on the shore rocks The base of sea cliffs are prone to undercutting by wave action

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Sea cliff Formation

Thompson & Turk

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Waves crashing on a sea cliff

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c. Wave-cut terraces
They are shallow, shelf like structures, carved
out from the shore rocks by sea waves Terraces are formed when the wave-cut notches extend backwards such that the sea cliff above is unsupported and falls down

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 Formation of wavecut terrace

http://en.wikipedia.org

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http://en.wikipedia.org

Wave-cut platform

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d. Sea Caves
The erosive action of waves along the fissures
in the sea cliffs initiate the process of sea cave formation The waves eventually widen the fissures through hydraulic action and abrasion, resulting

in cave formation

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Basalt sea cave at Akun Island, Alaska, U.S.A

http://en.wikipedia.org

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Marine Deposition
Shallow water (Neritic) deposits Beaches Spits and bars Tombolo Deep water deposits Coral Reefs

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Shallow water (Neritic) deposits

Neritic zone extends from the lowest tide limit to the continental shelf These deposits are derived from the adjacent

land and shore rock

Marine benthos also contribute source material

for shallow water marine deposits mollusks,

seaweeds

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a. Beaches
Loose deposits made by the sea near the shore, from materials eroded from nearby regions The lower and upper margins of the beach are

beneath and above the still water level

A part of the stream deposits from near shore are brought back to the shore by the waves and is deposited due to a check in their velocity Barrier beaches are formed away from and parallel to the shore
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Beach Formation

27 Thompson & Turk

1985

Evolution of Barrier beach at Chatham, Massachusetts

1986

1995

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http://www.whoi.edu

b. Spits and Bars

Ridge shaped deposits of sand and shingle,

extending across the embayment's

An embayment is a recess in the coastline, forming a bay A spit that completely closes the mouth of an embayment is called a bar

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Spits and Bars

Thompson & Turk

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c. Tombolo
Refers to a bar connecting a headland to an island, or one connecting two islands

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golearngeo.wordpress.com

Marine depositional features

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Tombolo

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Deep water (Pelagic) deposits

They are mostly comprised of mud and oozes Oozes are derived from planktons

Over time, such accumulations take the shape

of extensive ridges, partly or totally

submerged under seawater, and are called

reefs

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Coral Reefs
Ridge like marine deposits formed due to the accumulation of dead organisms, predominantly, corals, hence the name coral reef

They provide habitat for more than 25% of

the marine species Charles Darwin identified three types: Fringing reefs Barrier reefs Atolls
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Anatomy of a coral polyp

http://en.wikipedia.org
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Coral Diversity

http://en.wikipedia.org

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Coral Reef Locations

20 C Isotherms

http://en.wikipedia.org

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The Great Barrier Reef

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Visible Earth NASA

The Fringing Reefs

Thin, tabular sheets of coral accumulations along the border of mainland, or along the rim of an island

The Barrier Reefs

They occur at a distance from the shore/island A lagoon separates the reef from the shore/island

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The Atolls
An annular, circular, or semi-circular reef surrounding a central body of water (lagoon) The top of atolls are flat, pavement like, in appearance

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Fringing reef off the coast of Eilat, Israel.

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http://en.wikipedia.org

Barrier Reef

http://www.macminde.info

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Atafu atoll, the Pacific

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http://en.wikipedia.org

http://en.wikipedia.org

Formation of Coral Reefs: Darwins Theory

1.A volcanic island becomes extinct

2.As the island and ocean floor subside,

coral growth builds a fringing reef 3.As the subsidence continues, the

fringing reef becomes a barrier reef,

with a lagoon separating it from the island 4.Ultimately, the island sinks below the sea, and the barrier reef becomes an

atoll enclosing an open lagoon

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Atoll formation

http://en.wikipedia.org

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Reference
Singh, P, Engineering and General Geology, S K Kataria & Sons

Garg, S K, Physical and Engineering Geology, Khanna

Publishers Thompson, G R and J Turk, Introduction to Physical

Geology, Thomson Brooks/Cole

chl.erdc.usace.army.mil/, Coastal and Hydraulics

Laboratory, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers