Discordant coastline

A discordant coastline occurs where bands of different rock types run perpendicular to the coast.^[1]

The differing resistance to erosion leads to the formation of headlands and bays. A hard rock type such as

Bagshot Beds

is easily eroded creating a bay.

Part of the

greensand. North of Swanage, the chalk outcrop creates the headland which includes Old Harry Rocks

The converse of a discordant coastline is a concordant coastline.

References

^ "Landform change – the Dorset coastline - Coastal landscapes – WJEC - GCSE Geography Revision - WJEC - BBC Bitesize". www.bbc.co.uk.

Examples

The coastline around Durlston Bay (50°36′24″N 1°57′54″W / 50.60667°N 1.96500°W / 50.60667; -1.96500) is an example of a discordant coastline.

v t e Coastal geography
Landforms	Anchialine pool Archipelago Atoll Avulsion Ayre Barrier island Bay Bight Bodden Brackish marsh Cape Channel Cliff Coast Coastal plain Coastal waterfall Continental margin Continental shelf Coral reef Cove Dune cliff-top Estuary Firth Fjard Fjord Freshwater marsh Fundus Gat Geo Gulf Gut Hapua Headland Inlet Intertidal wetland Island Islet Isthmus Lagoon Machair Mudflat Natural arch Peninsula Reef Ria Salt marsh Shoal Shore Skerry Sound Spit Stack Strait Strand plain Submarine canyon Tidal island Tidal marsh Tide pool Tied island Tombolo Waituna Windwatt
Beaches	Beach cusps Beach evolution Coastal morphodynamics Beach ridge Beachrock Beaches in estuaries and bays Pocket beach Raised beach Recession Shell beach Shingle beach Storm beach Wash margin
River mouths	Debouch River delta mega regressive Mouth bar baymouth
Processes	Blowhole Cliffed coast Coastal biogeomorphology Coastal erosion Concordant coastline Current Cuspate foreland Discordant coastline Emergent coastline Feeder bluff Fetch Flat coast Graded shoreline Ingression coast Large-scale coastal behaviour Longshore drift Marine regression Marine transgression Raised shoreline Rip current Rocky shore Sea cave Sea foam Shoal (Peresyp) Steep coast Submergent coastline Surf break Surf zone Surge channel Swash Undertow Volcanic arc Wave-cut platform Wave shoaling Wind wave Wrack zone
Management	Accretion Coastal management Integrated coastal zone management Submersion
Related	Bulkhead line Coastal engineering Grain size boulder clay cobble granule gravel pebble sand shingle silt Intertidal zone Littoral zone Physical oceanography River plume Region of freshwater influence
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References

Examples

See also