1.
Headlands and bays
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Headlands and bays are two related coastal features. Headlands and bays are found on the same coastline. A bay is a body of water, either seawater or fresh water, headlands are characterized by high, breaking waves, rocky shores, intense erosion, and steep sea cliffs. Bays generally have less activity, and often less wind activity than the areas of water outside the bay. Headlands and bays form on discordant coastlines, where the land consists of bands of rock of alternating resistance run perpendicular to the coast. Refraction of waves occurs on headlands concentrating wave energy on them, so many other landforms, such as caves, natural arches, and stacks, form on headlands. Wave energy is directed at angles to the wave crest. Orthogonals converge on headlands and diverge in bays, which concentrates wave energy on the headlands, in the formation of sea cliffs, wave erosion undercuts the slopes at the shoreline, which retreat landward. This increases the stress in the cliff-forming material and accelerates mass movement. The debris from these landslides collects at the base of the cliff and is removed by the waves, usually during storms. This debris provides sediment, which is transported through longshore current for the nearby bay, joints in the headlands are eroded back to form caves, which erode further to form arches. These gaps eventually collapse and leave tall stacks at the ends of the headlands, eventually these too are eroded by the waves. Wave refraction disperses wave energy through the bay, and along with the effect of the headlands this protects bays from storms. This effect means that the waves reaching the shore in a bay are weaker than the waves reaching the headland, through the deposition of sediment within the bay and the erosion of the headlands, coastlines eventually straighten out. But then the process starts all over again. Beaches are dynamic geologic features that can fluctuate between advancement and retreat of sediment, the natural agents of fluctuation include waves, tides, currents, and winds. Man-made elements such as the interruption of sediment supply, such as a dam, a headland bay beach can be classified as being in three different states of sedimentation. Static equilibrium refers to a beach that is stable and does not experience littoral drift or sediment deposition or erosion, waves generally diffract around the headland and near the beach when the beach is in a state of static equilibrium
2.
Toronto
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Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. With a population of 2,731,571, it is the fourth most populous city in North America after Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles. A global city, Toronto is a centre of business, finance, arts, and culture. Aboriginal peoples have inhabited the area now known as Toronto for thousands of years, the city itself is situated on the southern terminus of an ancient Aboriginal trail leading north to Lake Simcoe, used by the Wyandot, Iroquois, and the Mississauga. Permanent European settlement began in the 1790s, after the broadly disputed Toronto Purchase of 1787, the British established the town of York, and later designated it as the capital of Upper Canada. During the War of 1812, the town was the site of the Battle of York, York was renamed and incorporated as the city of Toronto in 1834, and became the capital of the province of Ontario during the Canadian Confederation in 1867. The city proper has since expanded past its original borders through amalgamation with surrounding municipalities at various times in its history to its current area of 630.2 km2. While the majority of Torontonians speak English as their primary language, Toronto is a prominent centre for music, theatre, motion picture production, and television production, and is home to the headquarters of Canadas major national broadcast networks and media outlets. Toronto is known for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere. The name Toronto is likely derived from the Iroquois word tkaronto and this refers to the northern end of what is now Lake Simcoe, where the Huron had planted tree saplings to corral fish. A portage route from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron running through this point, in the 1660s, the Iroquois established two villages within what is today Toronto, Ganatsekwyagon on the banks of the Rouge River and Teiaiagonon the banks of the Humber River. By 1701, the Mississauga had displaced the Iroquois, who abandoned the Toronto area at the end of the Beaver Wars, French traders founded Fort Rouillé on the current Exhibition grounds in 1750, but abandoned it in 1759. During the American Revolutionary War, the region saw an influx of British settlers as United Empire Loyalists fled for the British-controlled lands north of Lake Ontario, the new province of Upper Canada was in the process of creation and needed a capital. Dorchester intended the location to be named Toronto, in 1793, Governor John Graves Simcoe established the town of York on the Toronto Purchase lands, instead naming it after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Simcoe decided to move the Upper Canada capital from Newark to York, the York garrison was constructed at the entrance of the towns natural harbour, sheltered by a long sandbar peninsula. The towns settlement formed at the end of the harbour behind the peninsula, near the present-day intersection of Parliament Street. In 1813, as part of the War of 1812, the Battle of York ended in the towns capture, the surrender of the town was negotiated by John Strachan. US soldiers destroyed much of the garrison and set fire to the parliament buildings during their five-day occupation, the sacking of York was a primary motivation for the Burning of Washington by British troops later in the war
3.
Lake Ontario
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Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Ontario, Canadas most populous province, was named for the lake, in the Wyandot language, ontarío means “Lake of Shining Waters”. Its primary inlet is the Niagara River from Lake Erie, the last in the Great Lakes chain, Lake Ontario serves as the outlet to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence River. Lake Ontario is the easternmost of the Great Lakes and the smallest in surface area and it is the 14th largest lake in the world. When its islands are included, the lake has a shoreline that is 712 miles long. As the last lake in the Great Lakes hydrologic chain, Lake Ontario has the lowest mean elevation of the lakes at 243 feet above sea level,326 feet lower than its neighbor upstream. Its maximum length is 193 statute miles and its width is 53 statute miles. The lakes average depth is 47 fathoms 1 foot, with a depth of 133 fathoms 4 feet. The lakes primary source is the Niagara River, draining Lake Erie, the drainage basin covers 24,720 square miles. As with all the Great Lakes, water levels both within the year and among years. These water level fluctuations are a part of lake ecology. The lake also has an important freshwater fishery, although it has negatively affected by factors including over-fishing, water pollution. Baymouth bars built by prevailing winds and currents have created a significant number of lagoons and sheltered harbors, mostly near Prince Edward County, Ontario, perhaps the best-known example is Toronto Bay, chosen as the site of the Upper Canada capital for its strategic harbour. Other prominent examples include Hamilton Harbour, Irondequoit Bay, Presquile Bay, the bars themselves are the sites of long beaches, such as Sandbanks Provincial Park and Sandy Island Beach State Park. These sand bars are associated with large wetlands, which support large numbers of plant and animal species. Presquile, on the shore of Lake Ontario, is particularly significant in this regard. The lake basin was carved out of soft, weak Silurian-age rocks by the Wisconsin ice sheet during the last ice age, the action of the ice occurred along the pre-glacial Ontarian River valley which had approximately the same orientation as todays basin. As the ice sheet retreated toward the north, it still dammed the St. Lawrence valley outlet and this stage is known as Lake Iroquois
4.
Toronto Region Conservation Authority
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Toronto and Region Conservation Authority or Office de protection de la nature de Toronto et de la région is one of 36 conservation authorities in Ontario, Canada. It owns more than 16,000 hectares of land in the Toronto region, tRCAs area of jurisdiction is watershed-based, and includes 3,467 square kilometres,2,506 on land and 961 water-based in Lake Ontario. This area comprises nine watersheds from west to east, Etobicoke Creek, Mimico Creek, Humber River, Don River, Highland Creek, Petticoat Creek, Rouge River, Duffins Creek, Carruthers Creek. The lands TRCA administers are used for control, recreation, education and watershed preservation activities. On several sites, TRCA operates conservation areas open to the public for recreational use, the TRCA also operates the Black Creek Pioneer Village, which preserves several 1800s-era buildings in a pioneer setting. Several municipal parks inside and outside Toronto are located on TRCA lands, such as the Toronto Zoo, Humber Bay Park, the TRCA operates five dams for flood control. Based out of its Kortright Centre for Conservation, the TRCA offers knowledge and this includes ecology and the study of water quality, natural habitats, plants, animals and more. It helps identify environmental needs, set targets, and restore natural areas and this work is focused in and around Toronto including portions of the Regions of Peel, York, and Durham. In 1946, a number of authorities were established by the Province to administer the numerous watersheds of the Toronto region under the Conservation Authorities Act. For example, in 1951, the Don Valley CA proposed an area at the point where Lawrence Avenue today crosses the East Don River in Toronto. The DVCA also proposed a halt on transportation uses in the valley, funding was not approved for the project and the land was eventually used for the Don Valley Parkway project. In conjunction with the formation of the authorities, volunteer organizations sprang up to assist the conservation authorities in their missions. In Toronto, the Don Valley Conservation Association was established in 1946 by Roy Cadwell, Rand Freeland, the Association went on to other activities, including tree plantings, wild flower and tree preservation and advocacy. Sauriol would later become a director of the MTRCA, watershed management also included promoting activities such as recreation and public education on authority lands. The Humber Valley CA opened Albion Hills Conservation Area in Caledon as well as Dalziel Pioneer Park, the designated conservation areas charged daily use fees for the general public to use their facilities, unlike typical public parks. After the deaths and damage of Hurricane Hazel in 1954, governments recognized the need for improved regulation of river floodplains, in conjunction with this, the Province of Ontario passed legislation that made building on floodplains illegal. The authority retained the name until 1997, when Metro Toronto was abolished, in 1959, MTRCA developed its Plan for Flood Control and Water Conservation, which outlined a CDN $22 million plan of dam construction, flood channel construction and floodplain acquisition. In total,15 dams, four channels were to be built and 11,200 acres of land to be acquired, the MTRCA constructed three of the 15 dams, Clairville, Milne and G. Ross Lord dam, plus others in Stouffville and on the Black Creek
5.
Spit (landform)
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A spit or sandspit is a deposition bar or beach landform found off coasts or lake shores. It develops in places where re-entrance occurs, such as at a coves headlands, the drift occurs due to waves meeting the beach at an oblique angle, moving sediment down the beach in a zigzag pattern. This is complemented by longshore currents, which further transport sediment through the water alongside the beach and these currents are caused by the same waves that cause the drift. Where the direction of the shore inland re-enters, or changes direction, for example at a headland, no longer able to carry the full load, much of the sediment is dropped. This submerged bar of sediment allows longshore drift or littoral drift to continue to transport sediment in the direction the waves are breaking, forming an above-water spit. Without the complementary process of littoral drift, the bar would not build above the surface of the becoming an spit. Spits occur when longshore drift reaches a section of headland where the turn is greater than 30 degrees, the spit will continue out into the sea until water pressure becomes too great to allow the sand to deposit. Vegetation may then start to grow on the spit, and the spit may become stable, a spit may be considered a special form of a shoal. As spits grow, the water behind them is sheltered from wind and waves, wave refraction can occur at the end of a spit, carrying sediment around the end to form a hook or recurved spit. Refraction in multiple directions may create a complex spit, waves that arrive in a direction other than obliquely along the spit will halt the growth of the spit, shorten it, or eventually destroy it entirely. The sediments that make up spits come from a variety of sources including rivers and eroding bluffs, activities such as logging and farming upstream can increase the sediment load of rivers, which may hurt the intertidal environments around spits by smothering delicate habitats. Roads or bulkheads built along bluffs can drastically reduce the volume of sediment eroded, if the supply of sediment is interrupted the sand at the neck of the spit may be moved towards the head, eventually creating an island. If the supply is not interrupted, and the spit is not breached by the sea, if an island lies offshore near where the coast changes direction, and the spit continues to grow until it connects the island to the mainland, it is called a tombolo. The end of an attached to land is called the proximal end. The longest spit in the world is the Arabat Spit in the Sea of Azov and it is approximately 110 kilometres long. The longest spit in a body of water is Long Point, Ontario. A well-known spit in the UK is Spurn Point at the mouth of the Humber River, the Curonian Spit, off the coast of Lithuania and Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea, it is 98 km long. In a similar fashion, the Vistula Spit separates the Vistula Lagoon from the Gdańsk Bay off the coast of Poland, the spit bends slightly west or east, changing its direction gradually, depending on the conditions of the tides and weather
6.
Leslie Street
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The following is a list of the north–south arterial thoroughfares in the Canadian city of Toronto. The city is organized in a grid pattern dating back to the laid out by Augustus Jones between 1793 and 1797. Most streets are aligned in the north-south or east-west direction, based on the shoreline of Lake Ontario, in other words, major north–south roads are generally perpendicular to the Lake Ontario shoreline and major east–west roads are generally parallel to the lakes shoreline. The Toronto road system is influenced by its topography as some roads are aligned with the old Lake Iroquois shoreline. Minor streets with documented history or etymology are listed in a separate section, roads are listed alphabetically, but from west to east they are William R. The portion south of Sheppard Avenue is the section of the proposed Spadina Expressway. Allen Road is named after the late Metro Toronto Chairman William R. Allen, landmarks along the road include the Lawrence Square Shopping Centre, the Yorkdale Shopping Centre and Downsview Park. There are several stories relating to the origin of Avenue Road, the most popular legend retells that of an early surveying team travelling west along what is now Bloor Street. Upon reaching the location of the intersection with Avenue Road today, the lead surveyor, but this is almost certainly apocryphal, the street was probably named for its tree-lined character. Avenue Road is also a residential street that runs from Edgar Avenue north to Weldrick Road connecting the communities of Richvale and Yongehurst in Richmond Hill. Bathurst Street is named after Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, henrys contributions to Toronto include organizing the successive waves of British settlers following the War of 1812, and granting the charter to the first university in the city, Kings College. Bathurst originally only referred to the south of Queen Street. In 1870, the north of Queen Street became part of Bathurst Street. It was known then as Crookshanks Lane, after Honourable George Crookshank. The road acted as a driveway to his 300-acre farm, Bay Street, used to be known as Bear Street, supposedly a reference to a noted chase given to a bear by settlers in that area. It is the centre of Torontos Financial District and is used as a metonym to refer to Canadas financial industry. The street was named when the land it occupies was annexed by the first expansion of York. Bay travelled from Lake Ontario to Lot Street, now Queen Street West, North of Queen Street and travelling to College Street was Teraulay Street
7.
Toronto Harbour Commission
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The Toronto Harbour Commission was a joint federal-municipal government agency based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The agency managed Toronto Harbour as well as being responsible for major works along the Toronto waterfront and it built the Toronto Island Airport in 1939. The agency was founded in 1911 and operated until 1999 when the operations were transferred to the new Toronto Port Authority. The Harbour Commission was the organization to manage the Port of Toronto, after the Commissioners of the Harbour of Toronto, known as the Harbour Trust. One of the commissioners, Hugh Richardson, was named Torontos first Harbourmaster in 1837, the Harbour Trust was formed in 1850 at the suggestion of the Toronto Board of Trade. On behalf of users, the Board expressed complaints in the operation of the provincial commission. The harbour was beset by silting problems which needed to be rectified, the Harbour Trust was also given authority over the Esplanade plan. The original 1817 plan intended to build a public walk and garden along the waterfront, the provinces plan was largely ignored and the City allowed the use of the shore line to be used for wharves and docking. In 1837, a new plan was developed for the Esplanade, in this plan, the Esplanade would be built just south of Front, and the waterfront extended south to the Windmill Line, some 100 yards south. The new lands would be used for port uses, the Esplanade itself would become mostly railway lands. The intrusion of the railways into the waterfront in the 1850s to 1890s period started to crowd out recreational uses, in 1892, a legal agreement solidified the railways usage of the waterfront. In 1893, a new plan was developed to extend landfill another 600 feet south, the problem of silting, and the increasing amount of sewage being dumped in the harbour, required ongoing dredging efforts. Other works by the Harbour Trust including a breakwater at the Don River, the wetlands of the Don River were becoming increasingly polluted. Plans were developed to convert the area into usable lands, a planning advocacy group, the Civic Guild unveiled a plan in 1909 which advocated industrial and recreational uses for the land. The Board of Trade advocated the reclamation and infilling of the wetlands for port, the existing port facilities were inadequate when a railway strike occurred in 1910, forcing vessels to wait days to dock. A referendum was held on January 2,1911, to approve a new Toronto Harbour Commission to take over the harbour, the Government of Canada established the Toronto Harbour Commission on May 19,1911 by an Act of Parliament. The commission was to manage Toronto harbour and waterfront lands in Toronto and its initial plans included the cleanup of Sunnyside Beach, and a breakwater from the Humber River to Bathurst Street. In the central core, the Commission infilled lands south of Harbour Street to their current waterfront line, to the east, the Commission infilled the lands of the Don River marsh, for use as industrial and port lands
8.
Breakwater (structure)
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Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defense or to protect an anchorage from the effects of both weather and longshore drift. Breakwaters reduce the intensity of wave action in inshore waters and thereby reduce coastal erosion or provide safe harbourage, Breakwaters may also be small structures designed to protect a gently sloping beach and put one to three hundred thousand feet onshore in relatively shallow water. An anchorage is only safe if ships anchored there are protected from the force of high winds, natural harbours are formed by such barriers as headlands or reefs. Artificial harbours can be created with the help of breakwaters, mobile harbours, such as the D-Day Mulberry harbours, were floated into position and acted as breakwaters. Some natural harbours, such as those in Plymouth Sound, Portland Harbour, the dissipation of energy and relative calm water created in the lee of the breakwaters often encourage accretion of sediment. However, this can lead to excessive salient build up, resulting in tombolo formation and this trapping of sediment can cause adverse effects down-drift of the breakwaters, leading to beach sediment starvation and increased erosion. This may then lead to further engineering protection being needed down-drift of the breakwater development, Breakwaters are subject to damage, and overtopping in severe storms events. Breakwaters can be constructed with one end linked to the shore, length of gap is largely governed by the interacting wavelengths. Breakwaters may be fixed or floating, and impermeable or permeable to allow sediment transfer shoreward of the structures. They usually consist of pieces of rock weighing up to 16 tonnes each. Their design is influenced by the angle of approach and other environmental parameters. Breakwater construction can be parallel or perpendicular to the coast. Of these three, the angle at which the breakwater is built is most important in the formation of salients. The angle at which the breakwater is built determines the new direction of the waves, a breakwater structure is designed to absorb the energy of the waves that hit it, either by using mass, or by using a revetment slope. In coastal engineering, a revetment is a land backed structure whilst a breakwater is a sea backed structure, caisson breakwaters typically have vertical sides and are usually erected where it is desirable to berth one or more vessels on the inner face of the breakwater. They use the mass of the caisson and the fill within it to resist the forces applied by waves hitting them. They are relatively expensive to construct in shallow water, but in deeper sites they can offer a significant saving over revetment breakwaters, rubble mound breakwaters use structural voids to dissipate the wave energy. Rock or concrete armour units on the outside of the structure absorb most of the energy, the slopes of the revetment are typically between 1,1 and 1,2, depending upon the materials used
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