Shore

Ocean Shores - Dune grasses 2015-06 255 (90 Sec)

A shore or shoreline is the land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean or river. Where the water is a sea, the shore is also called a "coast".

Shores are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape, as well as by erosion caused by water, such as waves. The geological makeup of rock and soil controls the type of shore which is created. Erosion of sedimentary soils can make a sandy or pebbly shore, usually called a beach.

A shore includes the intertidal zone that is alternately exposed and covered by waves and tides.

A shore will often have a lighthouse on it to help ships in the sea.

Shore Media

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  Rugged coastline of the West Coast Region of New Zealand

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  Southeast coast of Greenland

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  Escorca coast, Serra de Tramuntana (Balearic Islands)

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  Coastline in Otranto, Salento, Apulia, Italy

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  Somalia has the longest coastline in Africa.

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  Atlantic rocky coastline, showing a surf area. Porto Covo, west coast of Portugal

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  Seaside in Budelli, Italy. Budelli beach is famous for the color of its sand, which is pink due to the presence of fragments of a microorganism called Miniacina miniacea.

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  The Cinque Terre, along the Italian Riviera

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  Coastal landforms. The feature shown here as a bay would, in certain (mainly southern) parts of Britain, be called a cove. That between the cuspate foreland and the tombolo is a British bay.