Introduction
There are many definitions of what might be called rapid events occurring on coastlines from sea-level movements caused by global warming and/or cooling (10’s to 1,000’s of years) to tsunamis that occur in seconds. In this entry the types of rapid changes discussed will be of the more instantaneous nature from tsunamis (q.v.) to storm surges (q.v.), the type of damage done and what the events leave as a trace in the geologic record. These phenomena were deemed sufficiently important by UNESCO/IGCP (International Geological Correlation Program) to form an IGCP project (IGCP 367) that lasted for 5 years (1994–98), where over 500 people from 70 countries were involved working on almost every aspect of rapid change in the coastal zone. Much of this entry will be drawn from the five volumes produced from that project (Scott and Ortlieb, 1996; Shennan and Gehrels, 1996; Murray-Wallace and Scott, 1999; Scott, 1999; Stathis et al., 2000).
Climatic events
Storms
By far, the most...
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Cross-references
Barrier Islands
Changing Sea Levels
Coastal Changes, Gradual
Coastal Lakes and Lagoons
Deltas
Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming
Meteorological Effects on Coasts
Sediment transport (see Cross-Shore Sediment Transport and Longshore Sediment Transport)
Storm Surge
Tide Gauges
Tsunami
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Scott, D.B. (2005). Coastal Changes, Rapid. In: Schwartz, M.L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Coastal Science. Encyclopedia of Earth Science Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3880-1_76
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