Concordant Coast and Continental Shelf - Word Origins, Descriptions of Coastal Features, Processes

In the current alphabetic series of word origins and physical descriptions of coastal features and processes, here are concordant coast and continental shelf.

Concordant Coast
The Modern English adjective concordant comes from Middle English concordant, from Middle French concordant, from Latin concordant-, a combining form of concordans, the present participle of concordare ("to agree"), from concord-, concors ("agreeing"), from com- ("with, together") plus cord-, cor ("heart").

The general meaning of concordant is agreeing, consonant, correspondent, harmonious. In geology, the term means complying with, especially manifesting conformity or parallelism of bedding or structure in reference to strata.

A concordant coast is a coastline running parallel to the ridge and valley grain of the adjacent land.

It is also known by names that refer to two well-known examples of a concordant coast: a Pacific coast, or Pacific-type coast, after the Pacific Ocean coast of British Columbia; and a Dalmatian coast, after a stretch of coast along the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia.

Continental Shelf
The English word continent comes from Latin continent-, a combining form of continens ("continuous mass of land, mainland"), from continent-, continens, the present participle of continere ("to hold in").

The primary meaning of continent is any of the six or seven great divisions of land on the earth.

A continental shelf is a shallow, gently sloping ocean floor that is adjacent to a shoreline and that forms a border to a continent.

Continental shelves vary in width, averaging about 40 miles from the coast and reaching depths of 330 to 660 feet. In configuration, they typically extend the continental landmass. Off a mountainous coast, for example, a continental shelf is usually narrow and rough, while a coastal plain will normally extend to a broad, level offshore shelf.

Continental shelves are generally covered with sand, silts, and muds. Their surfaces often have small hills and ridges that alternate with depressions and valleys.

A continental shelf ends with a shelf edge, from which point the floor proceeds in a usually steep descent called a continental slope to a leveling-off portion called a continental rise, which leads to the oceanic abyss.
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Encyclopaedia Britannica Ready Reference 2004. CD-ROM. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2004.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 2006.

Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary. 3rd ed. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 2007.

The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1989.