Image

 ![Coastal research landscape used as the Northmoor University hero image.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2026-01/camilo-botia-k4vFDPJoDZk-unsplash.1600x1200.jpg.avif?itok=ujHvC8nC)

 

 



Course code

GEOL 330

 

Course credit

1.00

 

Covers coastal landforms and the processes that produce them: wave and tidal energy, littoral sediment transport, beach and dune dynamics, barrier and estuarine systems, and rocky shore development.

The sediment budget is the organizing framework. A shoreline is the expression of a balance between supply, transport and loss, and most coastal change follows from a change in one of the three. Students construct budgets for real coastal cells and use them to account for observed shoreline behavior.

The course runs largely outdoors. Field sessions map landforms, survey beach profiles and measure transport indicators, in conditions determined by the tide and the weather rather than the timetable. Students should have suitable clothing and expect to be wet.



Instructors

[Dr. Tobias Wren](/person/dr-tobias-wren)

[Dr. Daniel Okonkwo](/person/dr-daniel-okonkwo)

 

 

Prerequisite

GEOL 150. GEOL 260 recommended.



 

Terms offered

fall

 

 

Offering frequency

annually