Читать книгу The Sea Coast - J. Steers A. - Страница 7

THERE ARE many ways of studying the coast of a country. In this book the approach is physiographical—that is to say a study of coastal scenery in relation to its origin. This is a vast subject, and cannot be treated fully in a volume of this size, nor by one author. The proper understanding of the coast must be the result of the combined research of workers in several subjects—including geography, geology, ecology, and botany. In the meantime it is perhaps worth while for someone to try to give a comprehensive picture and to call attention to some of the ways in which our knowledge of the coast needs augmenting. I can only make two claims to do this; first I love the coast, and secondly it has been my good fortune to see the whole of the mainland coast of Great Britain and by far the greater part of that of the adjacent islands. This experience has emphasized only too clearly how impossible it is for any one person adequately to deal with so big a subject!

In this volume there are three main themes: (1) A brief synopsis of the relation of coast to the structure of the country and a summary analysis of the physical agencies working on the coast; (2) a discussion of the nature of different types of coastal scenery; and (3) a short account of the evolution of parts of our coastline. The final chapter on raised beaches and submerged forests is conveniently treated by itself, but its subject matter is relevant to all the other chapters.

So far as I am aware no one has attempted to deal physiographically and in some detail with the whole coast of Scotland. To do so at this stage would, I think, be difficult, much as the subject deserves it. This is so for several reasons. First of all a great deal more local work is required on specific problems and places. The interesting and extensive dunes of Aberdeenshire are now for the first time being studied. The Machair of the Western Isles, the Ayres of Orkney and the numerous saltmarshes all demand attention. Extremely little has been written about the cliffed coasts of Scotland—a study involving the relation of structure to marine erosion and other factors along miles of interesting and beautiful coast, and presenting problems for many workers. The investigation of raised beaches and associated phenomena has hardly begun in the sense of explaining how they were cut and the human uses to which they are now put. Moreover, the actual sequence is not always quite clear—where, for example, does the “pre-Glacial” beach of Islay, Colonsay, and the Treshnish Isles fit? Perhaps the controvery concerning the origin of fiords is settled, but there is still scope for much work on the local differences in form of the western sea-lochs. Still more important, and this applies to England and Wales with equal force, is the examination and mapping of the topography of the adjacent sea floor. The full study of a coast must depend a great deal on a knowledge of the adjacent submarine floor—and yet how little is this matter discussed in many coastal studies in which its introduction would be highly relevant!

Coastal scenery also depends greatly on that of the country to which it forms the margin. The contrast between the flat-topped cliffs of the Hartland district of North Devon and the hog’s-back cliffs of Exmoor; or the striking difference between the even skyline of the cliffs of the Tenby and Gower Peninsulas or of the Lizard district with the coast on either side of Salcombe Harbour in South Devon or with that of the north coast of Sutherland, all demand attention if we are going to explain fully the scenery of our coastline.

I am fully aware of many of the shortcomings of this book, and also of the generalizations made in it. A complete explanation of the intricate landscape of the Western Isles and mainland of Scotland is not at present possible. The origin of the North Sea and its connection with the cliffs of our east coasts, the reason for the Shetland archipelago, the former river systems of the North Channel and Irish Sea, the significance of the Cornubian peninsula, and the means of separation of Britain from the Continent and of Ireland from Britain are all great and largely unsolved problems. Yet to appreciate our coastline fully we must try to understand these topics just as much as the more obvious ones of erosion and accretion. If I have done nothing else than provoke discussion or disagreement I am well satisfied because it has always seemed to me that some of these matters have been all too readily overlooked—and it is a long time since Sir Haiford Mackinder introduced some of them in his Britain and the British Seas.

Once again I acknowledge with great pleasure my indebtedness to Dr. H. Dighton Thomas, who read through this book in typescript and made many helpful suggestions. To the Editors of the New Naturalist volumes I am also grateful for much constructive help and criticism. The diagrams have nearly all been drawn for me by Mr. L. R. Thurston, who spent much time and care on them. The sources of those diagrams based on the work of others are all duly acknowledged elsewhere. Permission to use maps and diagrams which have appeared in official publications has been obtained from the H.M. Stationery Office. The Royal Geographical Society and the Cambridge University Press have also kindly allowed me to make use of certain maps and figures. The photographs are from various sources, and I am indeed glad to record my thanks to those who have allowed me to make use of them. The origin of each photograph is given below it.

In order that the large figures 44, 47 and 50 may be printed from single blocks, they have had to be placed somewhat remotely from the text-passages to which they refer.

The Index was compiled by Mr. Geoffrey Willett, to whom I am most grateful.

J. A. STEERS,

Cambridge, May, 1952

Preface to the Third Edition

An appendix has been added in this edition. It begins with a brief account of the great flood of 1953, and then summarizes some of the important trends in coastal work, mainly since the War.

J. A. STEERS

Cambridge, July, 1960

Preface to the Fourth Edition

In this edition a note has been added to Chapter 9 in order to call attention to recent work on raised beaches.

J. A. STEERS,

Cambridge, May, 1968

It should be noted that throughout this book Plate numbers in arabic figures refer to the Colour Plates, while roman numerals are used for Black-and-White Plates