Emergent coastlines are stretches along the coast that have been exposed by the sea due to a relative fall in sea levels. This occurs due to either isostacy or eustacy.
Emergent coastline are the opposite of submergent coastlines which have experienced a relative rise in sea-levels.
The specific landform of an emergent coastline may be:
- Raised beach or machair
- Wave cut platform
- Sea cave such as King's Cave, Isle of Arran
The Scottish Gaelic word machair or machar refers to a fertile low-lying raised beach found on the some of the coastlines of Ireland and Scotland, in particular the Outer Hebrides.
Hudson Bay, in Canada's north, is an example of an emergent coastline. Currently it is still emerging by as much as one cm/year.
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