2023, go to the beach!

New Year

You should go to the beach.

From North to South

Experience the changing seasons along China's coast

Go to see

Thousands of miles of ice in the bitter cold

(Dalian Wafangdian Pai Shi Scenic Area in winter, source @Visual China)

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Go to see

The vitality after spring returns to the earth

(Migratory birds staying at Beidaihe Pigeon Nest. A large number of migratory birds migrate here every spring and autumn. Source: Visual China)

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Go to see

The blue sea and golden sand in the south wind

(Coconut trees and beaches near Tanmen, Qionghai, photographer @梁家进)

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Go to see

The strong and magnificent golden autumn

(In autumn, as the salsa grass grows, the Liaohe Red Beach welcomes the most beautiful scenery, photographer @王煜)

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Go see that

Nearly 18,000 kilometers of mainland coastline

14,000 km of island coastline

The Chinese coast

(Distribution of China's coast and major landscapes, drawn by @Chen Zhihao & Liu Zhipeng/Planet Research Institute)

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Why is China's coast so diverse?

This depends on its own destiny.

And the ocean that contains infinite energy

Next Steps

Let's start this coastal journey together

「

Table of contents

01 The fate of the boulder : broken

02 The fate of gravel : accumulation

03 The fate of sediment : suspension

04 The fate of the river : flowing into the sea

05 The fate of the coast : changing

"

01

The fate of the boulder

- Broken -

As 12,000 years ago

The last ice age ends and the climate warms up

Global sea level rise is gradually and relatively stable

The world's land and sea patterns

Gradually evolved into the familiar appearance

In eastern China

There are many mountains and hills in the south

In the north, there are vast plains.

The terrain differences are quite significant

The protruding Shandong Peninsula and Liaodong Peninsula

There are also continuous hills

When the mountains and the sea meet

The huge rocks that make up the mountainous coast

Will face the impact of the raging waves

Bedrock coast

(Dongfushan Island, Zhoushan, photographer @胡颖)

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Facing the attack of waves

Zhangzhou, Fujian

The originally regular hexagonal columnar joints of basalt

The edges and corners were smoothed out and the height was lost.

(Please watch in horizontal mode, basalt columnar joints in Zhangzhou Binhai Volcano National Geopark, photographer @焦潇翔)

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Pingtan Island, Fujian

The hard granite is gradually disintegrating.

Become round

(Please watch horizontally, Pingtan Island Granite Stone Egg Coast, photographer @陈小羊)

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at the same time

The coast becomes more broken and tortuous

(Please watch in horizontal mode, Shengshan Island, Zhoushan, Zhejiang, photographer @赵高翔)

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The waves erode the mountains day and night

It also created various shapes of sea erosion landforms.

(Sketch of sea erosion landforms, drawn by @Du Rui/Planetary Research Institute)

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For example, in Shenzhen Dapeng Peninsula

Waves hit the cliffs

Digging out deep grooves

The groove deepened, forming a huge cave

Sea caves

(There are several sea caves on the bedrock coast near Luzui Villa in Yangmeikeng, Shenzhen. Source: Visual China)

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As the cave deepens and expands

Its inner walls and top rocks gradually collapsed and fell

Steep cliffs will form on the mountain

Sea cliffs

The bottom of the cliff is often due to the retreat of the cliff wall.

Forming an open platform

Sea erosion platform

(The towering sea cliff and the flat sea erosion platform are photographed in the same frame at Baxiandun on Laoshan Mountain in Qingdao. Photographer: @张晓)

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Wucai Beach, Weizhou Island, Guangxi

It is a large sea erosion platform.

It is sometimes flooded by sea water

Like a stairway from the sea to the land

(Wucai Beach, Weizhou Island, Guangxi, photographer @亂言)

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When the mountain boulders

Protruding from the front of the sea-land confrontation

If the two sides are penetrated by sea caves

A giant sea erosion arch bridge was born

(The sea erosion arch bridge named "Dinosaur Exploring the Sea" in Dalian Jinshitan, photographer @梁炳全)

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If the arch bridge collapses, the rocks will separate

You can see the huge rock isolated in the sea

Sea stacks

(Gaoshan Island in Yantai, Shandong, with the sea stack separated from the mountain in the foreground, photographer @李希根)

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So many

The bedrock coast is extremely diverse and beautiful.

But the waves never stop attacking

It coordinates with other forces such as wind and rain

Continue to transform the coast

Time flies

The "Stone Old Man" who has stood in the sea for who knows how many years

Finally, the collapse

As if saying goodbye to people

(Qingdao Shilaoren Sea Erosion Pillar before and after collapse, photographer @王刚&邢浩)

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Not unique

In Dalian, Liaoning

The "table leg" that has witnessed countless sunrises and sunsets

It also cannot escape the fate of collapse.

Turned into a pile of rocks under the waves

(The "table leg" stone pillars on the coast of Pai Shihai in Wafangdian, Dalian, have now collapsed. Photographer: Liang Bingquan)

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that's all

The waves are constantly hammering at you

Rocks are breaking apart

But there are always some stubborn boulders

Resisted the attack of the waves

To become a cape protruding from the sea by force

The most famous ones are

Chengshantou, the easternmost tip of Shandong Peninsula

The exposed rock in front of it

Facing the waves from the Yellow Sea

(Chengshantou Scenic Area in Rongcheng, Shandong. What is shown here is only the most prominent part of Chengshantou Cape. Source: Visual China)

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Northern Taiwan Island

There are also many capes

Among them, Taiwan's Yehliu Geopark is the most famous

Its main body is a 1,700-meter-long cape.

(Please watch in horizontal mode, Yehliu Geopark, Taiwan, photographer @吴贤宾)

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On the Cape

Many sea erosion and wind erosion landforms are formed here

Honeycomb stone, candle-shaped stone, mushroom-shaped rock, etc.

All of them have strange shapes and attract people to stop and take a look.

(Mushroom-shaped rocks in Yehliu Geopark, Taiwan, photographer @苏李欢)

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However

The huge rocks that cannot withstand the waves of the ocean

What will happen in the end?

They keep breaking

The coast retreats

Heading in the opposite direction of the cape

Become a Bay

Therefore, this also accepts

The boulders that have broken into smaller pieces, becoming gravel or sand

This advance and retreat

This creates a scene where capes and bays appear alternately.

This combination is also known as Cape Bay

Whether in mainland China

(The coast near Qingdao Second Bathing Beach, source @Visual China)

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Or an island

All show twists and turns

(Dalian Changshan Island, photographer @Sun Ze)

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But Sand is not willing to be just a supporting role

As it accumulates

The entire coast is its home.

02

The fate of gravel

- Accumulation -

Under the Ocean Attack

Big rocks on the coast broken into small pieces of gravel

But more sand and gravel are brought by rivers.

Great rivers have long history

The sandstone has been fully polished

Becomes finer and lighter mud

The rivers and streams originating from the coastal mountains

The process is short

Too much grit to fully polish

It was transported directly into the sea

(Illustration of the main sources of coastal sediments, drawn by @Du Rui/Planetary Research Institute)

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Gravel entering the sea

Carried by the rolling waves

Some of them returned to the coast to gather

Between deep water, shallow water and the surf zone

Seawater reciprocating flow

Above the lower limit of wave action

The originally regular waves formed into white waves

The sand and gravel were also carried to the shore.

Forming a beach

For sandy coast

(Sketch of sand and gravel transported to the shore by waves, courtesy of Liu Zhipeng/Planetary Research Institute)

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then

Beautiful pictures

Natural generation

Golden Beach

Or with the blue sea

Interplay

(Dongshan Island Beach, Fujian, photographer @Zeng Xin)

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or with a hard bedrock coast

Create a contrast between hardness and softness

(Please watch in horizontal mode, the sandy coast and bedrock coast of Dongshan Island in Zhangzhou, Fujian, photographer @李毅恒)

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The sandy beaches on the sandy coast are mostly rounded.

This is because waves can also carry sand and gravel along the coast.

If you encounter rough and tortuous places

It will stay and fill

This creates an arc-shaped coastline.

(Sketch of the movement of sand and gravel along the coast, courtesy of Liu Zhipeng/Planetary Research Institute)

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At the bend of the Gulf

The settled gravel will also accumulate here.

A curved sand body connected to the shore

For the sand spit

(Xiangbi Bay, Pingtan, Fuzhou, photographer @吴宇鹏)

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The sand spit continues to grow

Sand dams can be formed

The sandbar encloses the bay

Semi-enclosed lake

Only a narrow exit connects to the sea

It is a lagoon

(Sand dam and lagoon at Hebei Port in Yangjiang, Guangdong. The sand dam is flat and has been developed into a salt pond. Photographer: @张向良)

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In Shanwei, Guangdong

The lagoon is large

Lake and sea facing each other

(Please watch in horizontal mode, the lagoon scenery of Jieshi Town, Shanwei, Guangdong, photographer @张向良)

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If the gravel continues to accumulate

Sometimes islands can be connected to the mainland

Forming land-connected islands

For example, in Dongshan Island in Zhangzhou, Fujian

A land island separates the bay

Forming two very close bays

Maluan Bay and Jinluan Bay

(Please watch in horizontal mode, Zhangzhou Dongshan Maluan Bay and Jinluan Bay from a high-altitude perspective, photographer @赵高翔)

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also

Under the waves

Gravel also accumulates to form a continuous crescent-shaped coastline.

Adds a bit of rhythm

(Golden Beach, Nanmen Bay, Tongling, Dongshan Island, Fujian, photographer @赵高翔)

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When the river supplies abundant gravel

Or when there is sufficient sand and gravel transported by coastal currents

Off the flat coast

Gravel will also accumulate

A series of sand islands parallel to the shore

Barrier Islands

In the western part of Taiwan Island

A group of barrier islands floating in the sea

Become a barrier between land and sea

(Satellite image of Taiwan's Yunlin-Chiayi Barrier Islands, drawn by @Chen Zhihao/Planetary Research Institute)

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Similar barrier islands

On the west coast of Hainan Island and the coast outside the Luanhe River estuary

It also appeared in places such as the east coast of Leizhou Peninsula.

However, these

This is not all the sandy coast looks like

Plenty of sand

Coupled with the prevailing winds that continue to blow onshore

On the coast, there will also be

Coastal dunes

(Schematic diagram of the formation principle of coastal sand dunes, drawn by Liu Zhipeng/Planetary Research Institute)

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Coastal sand dunes in Changli, Hebei

It is endless

As vast as a desert

(Please watch in horizontal mode, Emerald Island Sand Dunes in Changli, Hebei, photographer @朱金华)

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And on the many islands far away in the South China Sea

It also has a white sandy beach that attracts countless people.

This is because of the gravel here.

Not from broken rocks or rivers

It's the coral reefs around the island.

The waves beat day after day

The remains of coral reefs, calcareous algae, foraminifera and other organisms

Break it up and carry it ashore

Forming gray sand island

(Please slide left to see the unique beaches of the Xisha Islands, source: @Visual China)

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Yongxing Island in the Xisha Islands

It is the largest gray sand island in China.

It is also the seat of Sansha City.

(Yongxing Island and Qilian Island, photographer @笨小航)

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So far

Gravel makes up the sandy coast

Round and beautiful, pure and clear

So

Silt that is finer than gravel

What kind of fate will they experience?

What kind of coast does it consist of?

03

The fate of sediment

- Suspension -

Lots of sand

From the long-flowing rivers

From the far inland

They passed through mountains and plains

After countless hardships

Eventually it becomes silt and clay-grade silt

Into the sea

And because of its extremely light weight

It is easy to float in the water when the sea water surges

The coastal waters are often turbid.

(A retired offshore drilling platform near the mouth of the Yellow River in Dongying stands in the turbid seawater, source @Visual China; the silt and clay mentioned above generally refer to silt with an average particle size of less than 0.05 mm)

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But scattered in the sea

It's not all destiny

Just like in the Bohai Sea

Bohai Bay and Laizhou Bay

A large amount of sediment poured in from the Yellow River and other rivers

Tidal action pushes the suspended sediment toward the coast.

Sedimentation and siltation

Eventually a vast tidal flat was formed

It is a muddy coast

(Please watch horizontally, Shandong Laizhou Bay Salt Field, source @Visual China)

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but

The largest muddy coast in my country

Not here

But in the Subei Plain

In history, the Yellow River has flowed into the sea several times.

The ancient Yellow River brought a lot of silt

Driven by the trend

A very wide tidal flat is formed here.

(Tiaozi mudflats in Jiangsu, photographer @孙华金)

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As a result, the coast of northern Jiangsu has also moved significantly toward the sea.

The land area is increasing rapidly

(The vast tidal flats of Yancheng, Jiangsu, with wind farms extending to the sea, photographer @孙华金)

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On the coast at the junction of Yancheng and Nantong in Jiangsu

A very unique landscape was also created.

Tidal currents in southeast and northwest directions

The city gathers around Jianggang Port

Forming a series of giant aggregated sand bodies

The South Yellow Sea Radiate Sand Ridge Group

(Sketch of the radiation sand ridges and tidal currents in the South Yellow Sea, drawn by @郑艺&陈志浩/Planetary Research Institute)

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Among them, some sand bodies

Already visible from the sea

Become a sand island

(Dongsha Island in the radiating sand ridges of the South Yellow Sea, photographer @Sun Huajin)

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In coastal areas of Zhejiang and Fujian

The Yangtze River sediment is transported southward by the coastal currents of Zhejiang and Fujian

Not only did it make the sea water turbid

Occupied the Bay

(Shitang, Wenling, Taizhou, Zhejiang, photographer @赵高翔)

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Muddy coast

Rich in land resources and nutrients

It also contributed to the development of tidal flat aquaculture here.

In Xiapu, Fujian

You can see the mountains in front of you.

On the sparkling sea

Large marine aquaculture farms are lined up

(Xiapu tidal flat aquaculture scene, photographer @宋新子)

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also

The advance and retreat of the tide

It also caused countless branch-like ditches to grow on the mudflats.

Overlooking the trees that look like the earth

Tidal gully

Especially in the tidal gullies along the Jiangsu coast

The most dense and large

(Please watch in horizontal mode, this aerial view of the Dafeng tidal flat in Jiangsu Province shows tidal gullies, vegetation dotted with "large tree branches", and dozens of elks foraging among them. Photographer: @孙华金)

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Suaeda salsa, Salicornia herba, Erigeron breviscapus, etc.

The salt marshes of varying sizes on the shore

Painted with colorful

Like a palette on earth

Forming a world full of vitality

(In the Yancheng wetland in Jiangsu, elk ran in a large salt marsh, stirring up the mud and sand, leaving traces of their passage. Photographer @孙华金)

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The beach is rich in organic matter

In the ebb and flow of the tide

Alternating between marine and terrestrial environments

Suitable for the growth of fish, shrimp, crab, shellfish and mollusks, etc.

It provides a good habitat for migratory birds and other creatures

Therefore, in northern China

Several tidal flats along the coast together form an important

China's Huanghai and Bohai Sea migratory bird habitats

Its first phase has been listed as a World Natural Heritage Site

(Migratory bird habitats in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea, China, map by Chen Zhihao & Liu Zhipeng/Planet Research Institute)

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In the warm south

Mangroves have become a common sight on mudflats.

They are mostly distributed in bays, estuaries, lagoons and other environments.

Can be periodically flooded by seawater

The famous "coast guard"

It is also the home of countless creatures.

(The mangroves in Sibi Bay, Hainan, the mudflats here are relatively sandy, source @Visual China)

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From sandy coast to muddy coast

Rivers contribute sand and silt to the coast

But the river itself

What fate will they face?

What kind of coast is formed?

04

The fate of the river

- Entering the Sea -

China has many rivers

Many of them travel thousands of miles to the sea.

One by one

At the intersection of land and sea

Forming a variety of landscapes

(The estuary of Jiulong River in Zhangzhou, Fujian, photographer @林镇桂)

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The Yellow River carries more than 170 million tons of sediment each year

In addition, the terrain here is relatively closed and the coastal waters are relatively shallow.

A prominent

Yellow River Delta

Because the formation speed here is faster

Mostly muddy tidal flats

Not suitable for building large cities

(Satellite image of the Yellow River estuary, drawn by @Chen Zhihao/Planetary Research Institute)

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At the Yangtze River estuary

Deltas form relatively slowly and are solid

Large cities can be born on it

(Along the Huangpu River in Shanghai, the white clouds in the distance are the Yangtze River estuary, photographer @袁博)

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Sand island at its mouth

It has continued to grow over the long years.

It has grown into Chongming Island, the third largest island in my country

(Please watch in horizontal mode, panoramic view of Chongming Island, photographer @傅鼎)

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The Pearl River Estuary

The sediment connects

Hills on both sides of the river and islands in the sea

It has created a network of rivers and numerous islands and hills.

Pearl River Delta Plain

(Satellite image of the Pearl River Estuary, source @NASA, tagged @陈志浩/Planetary Research Institute)

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also

There are also deltas such as Luanhe River, Liaohe River and Hanjiang River.

Each has its own style along the coast

(Please watch in horizontal mode, Liaohe River estuary, photographer @焦潇翔)

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However

There are more rivers flowing into the sea

Or because of insufficient sediment transport

Or because the ocean current is too strong

Failure to develop a distinct delta

Only the appearance of the estuary can be maintained

The Qiantang River estuary is a typical example.

Around the 18th day of the eighth lunar month every year

Powerful trend

The trumpet-shaped estuary that flows into Hangzhou Bay

This will create the breathtaking Qiantang River tidal bore

(Please watch in horizontal mode, the Qiantang River tide surges towards the Jiashao Bridge, photographer @潘劲草)

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This period

Seawater affected by astronomical tides

In addition, the estuary shrinks

The force of the tide is concentrated in a small area

Formation such as line tide, cross tide, fish scale tide, etc.

Strange tidal phenomenon

The surging tide is like a galloping horse

Release the energy from the ocean

(Qiantang River Tide, Photographer @陈中秋)

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The same trend is stronger

Minjiang Estuary

As a mountain stream river with abundant water and little sand

It still maintains the shape of an estuary.

(Minjiang Estuary, Fuzhou, photographer @陈剑峰)

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Although these estuaries cannot form flat deltas

But they bend deep into the land

Created a number of excellent natural ports

It has become one of the most famous coastlines along the Chinese coast.

finally

Bedrock coast, sandy coast, muddy coast

Delta, estuary, etc.

The various coasts together constitute

China's diverse coast

The fate of the coast itself

Where will it go next?

05

The fate of the coast

- Changes -

Forces such as waves, tides, and winds from the ocean

Changing the fate of coastal boulders, gravel and sand

This also transforms the coast

However, no matter how the coast changes

Since ancient times

The coastal zone is an important home for human beings

Even more so now

People rely on and use marine resources

At the same time, at the junction of land and water

An artificial coastline has been built that is as good as the natural coastline

Seawater aquaculture

Countless cages, fishing rafts, and buoys

Carrying the hope of harvest

(Dalian Seawater Farm, Photographer @马天旭)

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Salt pans

Making salt from natural seawater resources

Thousands of years of history

(The seaside salt field on Liuao Peninsula in Zhangpu County, Zhangzhou, Fujian, photographer @赵高翔)

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A fishing port

For ships to dock

Coming in and out

(Danjia fishing raft on Monkey Island in Lingshui, Hainan, photographer @李晓强)

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People also built on the coast

Megacities

(Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong, Photographer @Vanny)

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Super large port

(Please watch in horizontal mode, Nansha Port at the Pearl River Estuary, photographer @张向良)

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Coasts are closely related to human beings

Humans are also trying to find

Balance between development and nature

Whether it is my country since the 1990s

China's marine protected areas have been established

(Distribution of China's marine protected areas, drawn by @陈志浩&刘志鹏/Planet Research Institute)

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Or returning farmland to wetlands?

Replanting mangroves

(Maoming Dianbai Mangroves, photographer @张向良)

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Or in recent years

Increasingly strict regulations on marine development

All of these illustrate the restoration and protection of the coast.

Getting more attention

Only in this way

China's coast can continue to remain diverse

As we walked towards the sea

You can see all kinds of strange reefs

Only then can you see the golden and blue beaches

And the beach is full of birds and full of life

(Please watch in horizontal mode, Yancheng tidal flats, photographer @孙华金)

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This article was created by

Written by | Wang Logic

Editor | Director & Yunwukongcheng

Photo | Zhou Xuguang

Map | Chen Zhihao

Design | Liu Zhipeng & Du Rui

Proofreading｜Yunwukongcheng & Li Chuyang & Chen Jingyi

Photographer of the title image｜Liang Jiajin

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