Coastal Morphodynamics

Course Outline

This course is one of a series of courses that provide an overview of coastal geology and a discussion of data sources and study methods applicable to coastal geological field studies. The course materials are based entirely on Chapter 4 of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Engineering Manual EM 1110-2-1810 Coastal Geology, which discusses morphodynamics of deltas, inlets, sandy shorefaces, and cohesive shorefaces.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of course materials.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

• Be familiar with various bed forms;
• Understand coastal morphodynamics; and
• Understand different types of processes to form geological features in the coastal areas.

Course Content

The purpose of this course is to introduce the coastal classification of Francis Shepard (1973), and to describe specific coastal environments found around the United States following Shepard’s outline. You are required to study the following U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Engineering Manual:

Chapter 4 of Coastal Geology (Engineering Manual EM 1110-2-1810, 1995 edition, 60 pages, PDF file).

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study.

The following contains the outline of Chapter 4 of the Engineering Manual EM 1110-2-1810:

Engineering and Design - Coastal Geology

Chapter 4 - Coastal Morphodynamics

4-1 Introduction
4-2 Introduction to Bed Forms
4-3 Deltaic Processes
4-4 Inlet Processes and Dynamics
4-5 Morphodynamics and Shoreface Processes of Clastic Sediment Shores
4-6 Cohesive Shore Processes and Dynamics

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites or web pages:

USGS - Coastal and Marine Geology Program
USGS - Center for Coastal & Watershed Studies: St. Petersburg/Tampa
USGS - Western Region Coastal and Marine Geology
University of New Hampshire Jackson Estuarine Laboratory Home Page

Once you finish studying the above course content you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

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DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDHonline.org or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered professional engineer. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.

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