Graded shoreline

A graded shoreline is a stage in the cycle of coastal development characterised by a flat and straight coastline. It is formed under the influence of wind and water from the original bays, islands, peninsulas and promontories. Sand and gravel is carried away and dumped at other locations depending on the direction and strength of sea currents. Typical of graded shorelines are the formation of dunes, wide sandy beaches and sometimes a lagoon or a spit. Where two graded shorelines meet, a headland may form with a sandy reef in the sea beyond it. Parallel to the graded shoreline sandbanks may form as a result of sediments transported away from the shore.

Examples

• Long stretches of the southern Baltic Sea coast in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in Poland, Russia, Lithuania and Latvia.
• The North Sea coast from Belgium, along the outer edge of the Wadden Sea islands in the Netherlands and Germany, to the west coast and northeast coast of Jutland in Denmark.
• On the headland of Jutland near Skagen the two graded shorelines for the constantly changing promontory of Grenen.
• On the island of Anholt in the Kattegat, two graded shorelines meet at the eastern bill of Totten. This headland also extends far under the surface of the sea as a reef.
• The peninsula of Hel in Poland consists of sediments carried eastwards from the Pomeranian coast, that are deposited in front of the Bay of Danzig.

Sources

• German Wikipedia
• Whittow, John (1984). Dictionary of Physical Geography. London: Penguin, 1984. ISBN 0-14-051094-X.

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 Spit Stack Strait Strand plain Submarine canyon Tidal island Tidal marsh Tide pool Tied island Tombolo Windwatt
Beaches	Beach cusps Beach evolution Coastal 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 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