Polar coasts
Polar and subpolar coasts are distinctive because of extreme seasonality and the presence of ice (predominantly tidewater glaciers, ice shelves, sea ice, and ground ice). Sea ice plays a protective role but may be either erosional or constructive when mobile. Wave activity, though effective mainly d...
Main Authors: | , |
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Other Authors: | |
Format: | Book Part |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
Elsevier
2011
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/98135/ https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374711-2.00312-0 |
Summary: | Polar and subpolar coasts are distinctive because of extreme seasonality and the presence of ice (predominantly tidewater glaciers, ice shelves, sea ice, and ground ice). Sea ice plays a protective role but may be either erosional or constructive when mobile. Wave activity, though effective mainly during the short summer, imposes a strong morphological signature on most sedimentary coasts. Unlithified coasts in permafrost are widespread on the Arctic Coastal Plain, where combined thermal and mechanical processes promote rapid erosion in ice-rich deposits. Antarctic and sub-Antarctic coasts are mainly dominated by rock or ice, as are parts of the Arctic coast. |
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