DHE 
POURKNAL OF GEOLOGY 
WANG AT ee BIeOA KY. L902 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROFILE OF EQUILIBRIUM 
OF Tir SUBAOUEOUS SHORE, TERRACE. 
THE profile of a shore as seen at any one time is a compro- 
mise between two forms. One of these is the form which it 
possessed when the water assumed its present level; from this 
form it is continually departing. The other is the form which 
the water is striving to give to it; toward this form it is continu- 
ally tending. There is a profile of equilibrium which the water 
would ultimately impart, if allowed to carry its work to comple- 
tion. The continual change of shore line and the supply of new 
drift are everchanging conditions with which no fred form can 
be in equilibrium. There are, however, certain adjustments of 
current, slope and load which, when once attained, are maintained 
with some constancy. The form involved in these adjustments 
is commonly known as the profile of equilibrium. When this pro- 
file has once been assumed the entire form may slowly shift its 
position toward or from the land, but its slope will change little 
or not at all. It may be compared to a stream channel which 
has reached grade but not base level. 
The force which the water exerts is derived ultimately from 
the wind. The immediate agencies in the work are waves and 
currents. It will be convenient to consider these first as acting 
independently of the wind which caused them, and second, as 
acting under its continuous influence. It is also desirable to 
Vol. X, No. 1. I 
