Coastal plains have been studied and defined geographically with respect to regional features and relief; geomorphically with respect to the nature of the origin of their surficial features and their implied development in time; stratigraphically with respect to their underlying spatial and volumetric rock and fossil units; tectonically with respect to their overall volumetric development and distortion through time; temporally with respect to their accretion through the geologic and absolute time scales. The resulting studies and definitions are each gradational and variable within themselves, and they are closely related and interdependent.
Geographically, coastal plains are regional features of low relief bounded seaward by the shore and landward by highlands (Freeman and Morris, 1958). Between the sea and the highlands they rise gently, frequently in a series of terraces or flats separated by scarps or hills to altitudes as high as 100–300 meters. The transition to highlands is...
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Colquhoun, D.J. (1968). Coastal plains . In: Geomorphology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31060-6_56
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