Coastal Science

Coastal environments contain a wealth of biodiversity and economic opportunity. Due to the interaction of terrestrial, marine, and atmospheric processes, they are one of the most complex environments on the planet.[1] Coastal environments are also home to approximately forty percent of the world’s people. It is here that “dense human populations, valuable economic activities, dynamic physical environments, and high ecological diversity converge, creating complex and increasingly vulnerable ecological and socially coupled systems.”[2] A healthy coastal zone is crucial to marine and terrestrial ecosystems, human health and well-being, and the economy.

Coastal ecosystems are at the interface between marine and terrestrial habitats and are exposed to a wide variety of human and natural stressors. They are the transition zone between the open ocean and terrestrial watersheds, with important and disparate spatial and temporal scales occurring in the physical as well as biogeochemical processes. Coastal oceans have three major components, the estuarine and nearshore areas, the continental shelf, and the continental slope. The offshore extent of coastal environments can range from a few kilometers to hundreds of kilometers. The topography in coastal oceans can be relatively featureless, or it can be complex and include river deltas, canyons, submerged banks, and sand ridges.[3]

Coastlines and coastal oceans span the globe, from near the North Pole to the Antarctic, and thus are subject to a full range of climatic conditions. Circulation in coastal regions is forced locally (e.g., by winds, freshwater discharges, formation of ice) or remotely (through interactions with the neighboring deep ocean, terrestrial watersheds, or large-scale atmospheric disturbances). Resulting motions include tides, waves, mean currents, jets, plumes, eddies, fronts, instabilities, and mixing events. Vertical and horizontal spatial scales of motion range from centimeters to hundreds of kilometers, and timescales range from seconds to interannual and longer.[4] Coastal regions can be very productive biologically, and they support the world’s largest fisheries. These regions are also preferred as recreational and dwelling sites for our increasing human population.

Practical and effective solutions to challenges in coastal systems are badly needed, especially in a changing global environment. Coastal scientists advance the sustainable use of coastal resources and conservation of coastal biodiversity, ecosystems, socio-economic integrity, and ecological services.[5] Coastal scientists also tackle environmental challenges such as shifting coastal resources, global environmental change, and sea level rise.

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Citations

1. MacLusky, D. S., Wolanski, E., & J., K. M. (2012). Treatise on estuarine and coastal science. Elsevier/Academic Press.
2. Coastal Science and Policy, UC Santa Cruz.
3. Technology, Instrumentation, Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences (2019).
4. Technology, Instrumentation, Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences (2019).
5. Coastal Science and Policy, UC Santa Cruz.