Acoastal plain (alsocoastal plains,coastal lowland,coastal lowlands) is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. Afall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and an upland area.[1]
Coastal plains can form in one of two ways; some begin as acontinental shelf, a flat piece of land located below sea level, and are created when the ocean level falls, exposing the land. Others develop when river currents carrysediment into the ocean, which is deposited and builds up over time until it forms a coastal plain. They are generally separated from the rest of the interior by proximate landforms, like mountains.[1]
Some of the largest coastal plains are inAlaska and the southeasternUnited States. TheGulf Coastal Plain of North America extends northwards from theGulf of Mexico along the LowerMississippi River to theOhio River, which is a distance of about 981 miles (1,579 km). TheAtlantic Coastal Plain runs from theNew York Bight to Florida.[1]
TheCoastal Plains of India lie on either side of theDeccan Plateau, along the western and eastern coasts of India. They extend for about 6,150 km from theRann of Kutch in the west toWest Bengal in the east. They are broadly divided into theWestern Coastal Plains and theEastern Coastal Plains. The two coastal plains meet atKanyakumari, the southernmost tip of the Indian mainland. The eastern coastal plain is located between TheBay of Bengal and theeastern Ghats and the western coastal plain is located between theArabian Sea and thewestern Ghats.[1]
In Australia, there exists theSouth East Coastal Plain inVictoria that includes theGippsland Plain, the eastern portion ofMelbourne,Otway Plain andWarrnambool Plain subregions. The Gippsland Plain features the depressed coastal and alluvial plains, barrier dunes andswampy flatlands. They mostly consist of grassland and grassy woodlands on yellow and grey textured fertile soils.[2] Another is theSwan Coastal Plain inWestern Australia, which includes the city ofPerth.[3][4] It is one of the distinct physiographic provinces of the largerWest Australian Shield division.[5][6]
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