The Sea Coast
The Sea Coast shows in a persuasive and compelling way the origin and evolution of cliffs, estuaries, sea marshes, sand dunes and the communities of plants and animals that they support. This edition is exclusive to newnaturalists.comBritain's coasts have everything, from towering cliffs rising sheer from deep water to a thousand feet and more, to miles of tidal slobs and flats, restless shingle spits, shifting beaches, immobile rock headlands. The extraordinary consequences of a varied climate and a complicated geology are shown even more effectively in Britain's coasts than in her fascinating island scenery.Our greatest authority on coastal topography, Professor Steers, has studied the nature of Britain's sea-side and the evolution of coasts and coastline for most of his life. A past Professor of Geography of Cambridge University, he made the now famous comprehensive survey of our entire coastline. His book shows in a persuasive and compelling way the origin and evolution of cliffs, estuaries, sea marshes, sand dunes and the communities of plants and animals that they support.
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THE NEW NATURALIST
THE SEA COAST
by
J. A. STEERS
PROFESSOR OF GEOGRAPHY
AND PRESIDENT OF ST. CATHARINEâS COLLEGE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
TO
James and Grace
EDITORS:
JOHN GILMOUR M.A.V.M.H.
SIR JULIAN HUXLEY M.A. D.Sc F.R.S. MARGARET DAVIES M.A. Ph.D. KENNETH MELLANBY C.B.E. Sc.D.
PHOTOGRAPHIC EDITOR:
ERIC HOSKING F.R.P.S.
The aim of this series is to interest the general reader in the wild life of Britain by recapturing the inquiring spirit of the old naturalists. The Editors believe that the natural pride of the British public in the native flora and fauna, to which must be added concern for their conservation, is best fostered by maintaining a high standard of accuracy combined with clarity of exposition in presenting the results of modern scientific research. The plants and animals are described in relation to their homes and habitats and are portrayed in the full beauty of their natural colours, by the latest methods of colour photography and reproduction.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 THE RELATION OF THE COAST TO THE GENERAL STRUCTURE OF GREAT BRITAIN
CHAPTER 2 THE MOVEMENTS OF BEACH MATERIAL
CHAPTER 3 EROSION AND ACCRETION EVIDENCE OF COASTAL CHANGES
CHAPTER 4 THE COAST IN PROFILE AND PLAN
CHAPTER 5 CLIFF SCENERY
CHAPTER 6 SAND AND SHINGLE SPITS, AND SALT MARSHES
CHAPTER 7 MAJOR SHINGLE STRUCTURES
CHAPTER 8 STUDIES IN THE EVOLUTION AND SETTING OF OUR COASTAL SCENERY
CHAPTER 9 EVIDENCES OF ELEVATION AND DEPRESSION OF COASTLINES
APPENDIX THE STORM OF 1953 AND ITS AFTERMATH
SOMEWHERE in the heart of the Midlands of England is a spot which can claim to be the most distant in these islands from the sea. Yet the distance from the nearest tide water is less than 70 miles. If the sea is a part of every Britonâs natural heritage, then the sea coast is doubly so; and it must be rare to find an inhabitant of the British Isles of mature years who has never seen the sea. Another volume in the New Naturalist series has disclosed the richness of the flora of our coasts and that wealth in plants is due in large measure to the great variety of coastal habitats. The British coasts have indeed everythingâfrom towering cliffs rising several hundred feet sheer from deep water to mud flats a mile or more wide uncovered by every tide; from restless shingle spits and moving sand dunes to granite headlands which see little change in a century. How is it that along some stretches, despite all the efforts of man, the sea succeeds in gnawing away several feet of land a year, only to throw back the discarded material a few miles away? In this book Professor Steers seeks to explain, as far as the present state of knowledge will permit, how the varied types of coastline have been evolved and how the changes still taking place provide such a remarkable range of differing conditions for plant and animal life.
Now Professor of Geography and President of St. Catharineâs College, in the University of Cambridge, and previously Dean and Tutor of his College, his special field of study has been the evolution of coasts and coastlines. His studies took him early to the Great Barrier Reefs and to the cays of the West Indies, but these expeditions were but holidays from the long continued detailed studies of the Norfolk coastâresulting in a book devoted exclusively to Scolt Head Island. When the Ministry of Town and Country Planning was set up he was commissioned by the Minister to make a comprehensive survey of the whole coastline of England and Wales. The lengthy report which resulted provides the essential basic information on which policies of coastal preservation and development can be based. When this was completed Professor Steers undertook a similar survey of Scottish coasts. As a natural consequence he became a member of The Nature Conservancy and so retains a continuing interest in work which must of necessity be greatly concerned with the natural history of coastal lands.
Clearly no-one is better qualified to write on the Sea Coast, and in this book we believe he has successfully combined a clear exposition of what we know, with an indication of the many directions in which the amateur observer can help in the elucidation of outstanding problemsâin the true tradition of the field naturalist.
THE EDITORS
THERE ARE many ways of studying the coast of a country. In this book the approach is physiographicalâthat is to say a study of coastal scenery in relation to its origin. This is a vast subject, and cannot be treated fully in a volume of this size, nor by one author. The proper understanding of the coast must be the result of the combined research of workers in several subjectsâincluding geography, geology, ecology, and botany. In the meantime it is perhaps worth while for someone to try to give a comprehensive picture and to call attention to some of the ways in which our knowledge of the coast needs augmenting. I can only make two claims to do this; first I love the coast, and secondly it has been my good fortune to see the whole of the mainland coast of Great Britain and by far the greater part of that of the adjacent islands. This experience has emphasized only too clearly how impossible it is for any one person adequately to deal with so big a subject!
