Elevated shorelines or strandlines are traces of former coastlines that have become emerged because of some combination of eustatic and crustal processes. The nature of the former shoreline may be in the form of a rock platform (wave cut or eroded by sea ice), sea caves, raised beaches, lagoon deposits, organic reefs, and/or related features (Charlesworth, 1957; Gill, 1972; Gill and Hopley, 1972; Guilcher, 1969; Nansen, 1905; Vita-Finzi, 1973; Zeuner, 1959).
While there are many secondary complications, the causes of the emergence of the old shoreline are generally some combination of the following three factors.
Glacioisostatic Uplift
There are many examples of this phenomenon in Scandinavia (Eronen, 1974), Scotland, Northern Ireland, Svalbard, Greenland, Canada, New England, and the state of Washington, as well as some in the Southern Hemisphere, notably in Patagonia, southern Chile, the Palmer Peninsula, many of the subantarctic islands, and the main shoreline of Antarctica (Andrews...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Andrews, J. T., 1974. Glacial Isostasy. Stroudsburg, Pa.: Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, 491p.
Chambers, R., 1848. Ancient Sea Margins. Edinburgh: Chambers, Orr, and Co., 388p.
Chappell, J., 1974a. Geology of coral terraces, Huon Peninsula, New Guinea: A study of Quaternary tectonic movements and sea-level changes, Geol. Soc. America Bull. 85, 555–570 (see also Geol. Soc. America Bull. 87, 235).
Chappell, J., 1974b. Late Quaternary glacio-and hydro-isostasy on a layered earth, Quaternary Research 4, 405–428.
Charlesworth, J. K., 1957. The Quaternary Era. London: Edward Arnold, 2 vols., 1700p.
Darwin, C., 1838. On certain areas of elevation and subsidence in the Pacific and Indian oceans, as deduced from the study of coral formations, Geol. Soc. London Proc. 2, 552–554.
Eronen, M., 1974. The history of the Litorina Sea, Fennia 44, 79–195.
Fairbridge, R. W., 1961. Eustatic changes in sea level, in Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, vol. 4. New York: Pergamon Press, 99–185.
Gill, E. D., 1972. The relationship of present shore platforms to past sealevels, Boreas 1, 1–25.
Gill, E. D., and Hopley, D., 1972. Holocene sea levels in eastern Australia—A discussion, Marine Geology 12, 223–243.
Guilcher, A., 1969. Pleistocene and Holocene sea level changes, Earth-Sci. Rev. 5, 69–97.
Hillaire-Marcel, C., and Fairbridge, R. W., 1978. Isostasy and eustasy of Hudson Bay, Geology 8, 117–122.
MacLaren, C., 1842. The glacial theory of Prof. Agassiz, Am. Jour. Sci. 42, 346–365.
Munk, W. H., and MacDonald, G. J. F., 1960. The Rotation of the Earth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 323p.
Nansen, F., 1922. The Strandflat and Isostasy. Videnskabs-selskabet i Kristiania, Matematisk-naturvidenskapellig klasse, Skirfter No. 11 (1921).
Suess, E., 1904-1924. The Face of the Earth. 5 vols. Oxford: Clarendon.
Vita-Finzi, C., 1973. Recent Earth History. London: Macmillan, 138p.
Von Zittel, K., 1901. History of Geology and Palaeontology. London: W. Scott, 562p.
Zeuner, F. E., 1959. The Pleistocene Period, 2nd ed. London: Hutchinson, 447p.
Cross-references
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1982 Hutchinson Ross Publishing Company
About this entry
Cite this entry
Fairbridge, R.W. (1982). Elevated shoreline (strandline). In: Beaches and Coastal Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30843-1_165
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30843-1_165
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-87933-213-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-30843-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive