The authors take a novel approach, such that their book’s title belies its full scope. Prior to describing shoreline systems (deltas, estuaries, tidal flats and so on), they provide an overview of plate tectonics and then classify coastlines according to their plate tectonic settings. They group coasts into three categories: collision types, trailing edge types and marginal seas. These differ in part in the scale of the rivers draining them, collision coasts having short rivers and trailing edge coasts having long ones. They differ also in the nature of the continental shelves, which are narrow on collision coasts, wide on trailing edge coasts, and bordered by offshore island arcs along marginal seas. Trailing edge coasts are subdivided into Neo-types (geologically <30 million years old) resulting from continental rifting, Afro-types around continents lacking opposing collision- and trailing-type coastlines, and Amero-types along passive, Atlantic type margins. Superimposed on this classification are the effects of modern climates, weather systems such as hurricanes, wave types and their propagation, and tides. A brief description of sediments and rocks is presented, but the mineralogical component is kept to a minimum, shoreline sediments containing primarily four mineral types: feldspars, quartz, clay minerals and carbonates.
With this background in place, the authors describe the many shoreline systems, noting in which plate tectonic setting they primarily occur. The emphasis is on depositional features, but one chapter is devoted to rocky coasts. In addition to diagrams showing systems’ evolution, photographs from worldwide settings are provided to illustrate them. Boxed case studies add depth; I particularly enjoyed one describing historic car races at Daytona Beach, Florida.
This book is designed for introductory students, bibliographic references being kept to a minimum. However, it has much to offer for those in more advanced courses and for those working in coastal management.
By Brent Wilson
BEACHES AND COASTS, by Richard A. Davis, Jr., and Duncan M. Fitzgerald. Second Edition, 2020, 536 p. Published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd., Hoboken, USA. ISBN 978-1-119-33448-4 (hardback), list price, £70.00. Also available as an e-book.