Coastlines
Estuary Coasts Look Empty at Low Tide and That Is the Point
Mudflats are not a failed beach; they are the productive part of the system, and they run on a strict timetable.
Coastlines
Stretches of coast worth the journey, and what each one is actually like.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 2 of 2
Coastlines
Fjord and Sea Loch Coasts Put Deep Water Beside the Footpath
A drowned glacial valley has hundreds of metres of water within a stone's throw of the road, and almost no beach anywhere along it.
Coastlines
A Fringing Reef Decides What the Beach Behind It Feels Like
The reef takes the energy out of the swell, builds the sand, and creates the channels through which all that water has to leave…
Coastlines
Volcanic Coasts Drop Away Fast and the Rock Explains Why
Dark sand, sudden depth and a shoreline that was made recently rather than worn down slowly over millions of years.
Coastlines
Caves, Arches and Stacks Are a Cliff Coast Caught Mid-Sentence
Each of those features is one stage of a single process, and knowing the sequence tells you what a headland used to be.
Coastlines
Mangrove Coasts Are Neither Land Nor Sea for Miles
A shoreline with no defined edge, built by trees that trap sediment, drained by creeks and rearranged twice a day by the tide.
Coastlines
Tidal Range Is the Number That Changes Most Between Coasts
Some coasts move a few centimetres between high and low water and others move the height of a house, and almost everything follows…
Coastlines
A Cold Current Can Run Along a Hot Coast All Summer
Latitude tells you what the air will do and almost nothing about the water, because some coasts pull cold water up from below all…
Coastlines
Where a Desert Reaches the Sea, the Coast Runs on Fog
Almost no rain, a cold ocean, a fog bank that arrives most nights and a shoreline where the only reliable water comes out of the…