Sandy Beaches
Coarse Beaches
Protected Bays
Coastal Wetlands/Tidal Mudflats
Straits
Archipelagoes
Offshore Trenches
The surface layer consists of well-sorted grains of primarily quartz, and traces of feldspars. The beach facies is either coarsening upwards or downwards, depending on the shoreline prograding or retrograding. A prograding shoreline lower the energy in the previous foreshore, creating sedimentation of fines, while a retrograding shoreline creates intermediate structures with coarse surface sediments with underlying fines.
The transgressing shoreline create a seabed with an impermeable upper layer and a underlying layer with high hydraulic conductivity. The regressing shoreline creates an open surface laying and an intermediate layer of impermeable fines.
Coarse beaches are more common in areas exposed by a high wave energy, created by long wind fetches, or by the formation of alluvial cones and is mainly composed of quartz. The Coarse/gravel beaches can maintain a very steep slope, has a lower amount of longshore drift in comparison to finer beaches and has a high hydraulic conductivity. Due to the high permeability, the beach may be infiltrated during the swash uprush.
Protective bays induce sedimentation of fines and increased amount of biota. Anthropogenic activity and harbors is common along bays, and may lead to a shift in organic matter and increased concentrations of pollutants.
Coastal wetlands are driven by tides, and associated with calm water, protected from long fetches. The amount of sedimentation is directly related to the intensity of the tidal shift. The surface area can either be dominated by sediments or by vegetation.
Straits are generally composed of coarse material in a high-energy zone. Straits are favorable as transport routes and are exposed for increased turbulence both from currents and traffic.
The archipelagoes induce sedimentation basins of fines. The Swedish archipelagos are popular vacation areas and is heavily affected by anthropogenic activity, leading to high concentrations of polyaromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals and an anoxic seabed.
The offshore trench parallel to the shoreline is often affected by currents, eroding the seabed and exposing the impermeable sedimentary bedrock.
Fjords
Fjords are generally long, narrow inlets characterized by sheer rock walls mainly caused by glacial erosion. Typically poor exhange and calm with a sedimentary bottom setting with no erosion.