Coastal Settings
Coastal environments (syn. paralic, marginal marine) cover a broad zone that reaches from the landward limit of marine processes to the seaward limit of alluvial and shallow marine processes (above the base of storm wave and tide). They include all other environments affected by the proximity of a shoreline.
The shoreline is a line of demarcation between sea, lake or lagoonal waters and the exposed beach. Thus it is a local and transient feature. These are obvious geomorphological boundaries and are commonly the first line drawn on the palaeogeography map supplied by the geologist. They are commonly easily distinguishable in the subsurface using fossil fauna.
Coastal environments provide the most common clastic reservoir rocks and therefore have been well studied. Unfortunately, this has led to the establishment of ever more complex classifications.
Sections to be completed in future updates
