ABSTRACT
Plate tectonics provides the framework for interpreting the history and character of the continental margins. Plate movements and the basic difference in the density of oceanic and continental crustal units initiate the structural pattern of continental margins and result in a tectonic classification of coastlines as active (Pacific, leading edge) or passive (Atlantic, trailing edge) or transform margins, each of which have certain fundamental characteristics (Kious and Telling, 1996; Mead, 2005; Morelock et al., 2006, Murthy, et al., 2011).
