Introduction
With over 5,000 islands the Chinese coastline is 32,000 km long, with a continental coastline of 18,000 km. The geological structure of the coastal area is rather complex, with interlaced distribution of hilly land and low plains. The coastal topography is undulating, and the coastline rather intricate. There are two distinct coastal zones north and south of Hangzhou Bay. The coastal plain to the north has intermittent hilly land, while the coast to the south is dominated by hills with some small estuarine plains (Chen et al. 1980; Chen and Wang 1981; Wang 1980).
The Chinese coastline extends across several differ-ent climatic zones, varying greatly in natural landscape (Fig. 20.1.1 ). South China lies in the tropical zone and the subtropical zone, where the hot and humid climate permits the growth of coral reefs and mangroves. The mangrove coast is widely distributed in South China, extending north to Fujian Province. The coral reef coast is found in the provinces of...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Chen JY, Wang BC (1981) The islands of China. In the physical geography of China. Science Press, Beijing, pp 349–365
Chen JY, Wang BC, Liu CZ (1980) The coastal geomorphology of China. In the physical geography of China. Science Press, Beijing, pp 313–347
Chen JY, Yu ZY, Yun CX (1959) Development of the geomorphology of the Changjiang delta. Acta Geogr 24:201–222
Chen JY, Yun CX, Xu Haigen, Dong YF (1979) Evolution of the Changjiang estuary during the past 2,000 years. Acta Oceanol Sin 1:103–111
Dai ZJ, Li CC, Zhang QL (2004) Fractal analysis on shoreline patterns for the crenulate-bay beaches, Southern China. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 61:65–71
Pang JZ, Si SH (1979) The estuary changes of Hunghe River. I. Changes in modern time. Oceanol Limnol Sin 10:136–141
So CL (1985) Hong Kong. In: Bird ECF, Schwartz ML (eds) The World’s Coastline. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, pp 823–828
Wang Y (1980) The coast of China. Geosci Canada 7:109–113
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Jiyu, C., Cangzi, L., Zhijun, D., Zhiying, Y. (2010). China. In: Bird, E.C.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of the World's Coastal Landforms. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8639-7_219
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8639-7_219
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-8638-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-8639-7
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences