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Belgium

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Introduction

The coast of Belgium is about 65 km long and forms part of the sandy Southern North Sea coastline that stretches from the Schelde estuary (Netherlands) in the east to Cap Blanc Nez (France) in the west (De Moor 2006). The coastline trends about W 35° SN 55° E. Tides are semidiurnal, with a mean tidal amplitude reaching 4 m and a slight increase from west to east.

Fig. 8.12.1
figure 1_111 figure 1_111

The Belgian Coastal Plain and the Schelde Estuary. 1 – Submerged sand banks, 2 – 1960–1980 erosive sectors, 3 – younger dunes, 4 – older dunes, 5 – outcrop of Subboreal peat, 6 – limit of the reclaimed Holocene intertidal areas, 7 – present-day intertidal flats, 8 – late Glacial aeolian sand ridge, 9 – holocene river dunes, 10 – weichselian fluvioperiglacial sands (mainly Flemish Valley infillings), 11 – uplands in Lower Pleistocene deposits, 12 – uplands in Tertiary sands and clays. BI Blankenberge; Br Bredene; H De Haan; M Middelkerke; O Oostende; P De Panne; V Veurne; KB Kwinte bank; OD Oostdyck; WB...

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References

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De Moor, G., Ozer, A., Heyse, I. (2010). Belgium. In: Bird, E.C.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of the World's Coastal Landforms. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8639-7_111

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