Polar coasts

• Main Authors: Forbes, D.L., Hansom, J.D.
• Other Authors: Flemming, B.W.
• Format: Book Part
• Language: unknown
• Published: Elsevier 2011
• Subjects: Antarctic; Arctic; Antarc*; Ice; Ice Shelves; permafrost; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/98135/; https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374711-2.00312-0

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.