Shore

Shore of Grand Anse Beach, Saint George Parish, Grenada, West Indies

The rocky shoreline of Taylor Head Provincial Park in Eastern Shore, Nova Scotia, Canada

Shore at Heishijiao Geological Park, Dalian, China

A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past and present, while the beach is at the edge of the shore, representing the intertidal zone where there is one.^[1] In contrast to a coast, a shore can border any body of water, while the coast must border an ocean; that is, a coast is a type of shore. The word shore is often substituted for coast where an oceanic shore is meant.

Shores are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape, as well as by water induced erosion, such as waves. The geological composition of rock and soil dictates the type of shore which is created.

See also

• Offshore or Intertidal zone
• Ballantine Scale
• Coastal path

References

External links

• Media related to Shores at Wikimedia Commons
• "shore". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4 ed.). 2000. 
• "shore". Merriam-Webster Online. 2009. 

Coastal geography Landforms Anchialine pool Archipelago Atoll Avulsion Ayre Barrier island Bay Baymouth bar Bight Bodden Brackish marsh Cape Channel Cliff Coast Coastal plain Coastal waterfall Continental margin Continental shelf Coral reef Cove Dune cliff-top Estuary Firth Fjard Fjord Freshwater marsh Fundus Gat Geo Gulf Gut Headland Inlet Intertidal wetland Island Islet Isthmus Lagoon Machair Marine terrace Mega delta Mouth bar Mudflat Natural arch Peninsula Reef Regressive delta Ria River delta Salt marsh Shoal Shore Skerry Sound Stack Strait Strand plain Submarine canyon Tidal island Tidal marsh Tide pool Tied island Tombolo Windwatt Beaches Beach cusps Beach evolution Beach morphodynamics Beach ridge Beachrock Pocket beach Raised beach Recession Shell beach Shingle beach Storm beach Wash margin Processes Blowhole Cliffed coast Coastal biogeomorphology Coastal erosion Concordant coastline Current Cuspate foreland Discordant coastline Emergent coastline Feeder bluff Fetch Flat coast Graded shoreline Headlands and bays Ingression coast Large-scale coastal behaviour Longshore drift Marine regression Marine transgression Raised shoreline Rip current Rocky shore Sea cave Sea foam Shoal Spit Steep coast Submergent coastline Surf break Surf zone Surge channel Swash Undertow Volcanic arc Wave-cut platform Wave shoaling Wind wave Wrack zone Management Accretion Coastal management Integrated coastal zone management Submersion Related Bulkhead line Grain size boulder clay cobble granule pebble sand shingle silt Intertidal zone Littoral zone Physical oceanography Region of freshwater influence Category Commons