Sandy Beaches A River of Sand

Beach Composition and Slope Material in transit along the shoreline Sediment that comes from the erosion of cliffs or nearby mountains is coarse in texture Sediment from local rivers is finer in texture Breaking waves move material perpendicular to the shoreline Swash is the wave moving up the face of the each Backwash is the wave running back down the beach Small waves move sand up the beach face, swash is dominant (summer beach) steep beach face Large waves move sand down the beach face, Backwash is dominant (winter Beach) Flat beach face, Trough and sand bar form

Long Shore Transport Waves usually approach the beach at an angle Waves crash along shorelines more than 10,000 times a day Waves hitting the beach push the sand at the same angle creating a zig zag pattern of sand movement Erosional shorelines have well developed cliffs and tectonic uplift of the coast U.S. Pacific coast is an Erosional shore, waves pound on headlands, undercut cliffs which collapse into sea Southeast Atlantic and Gulf coasts are Depositional shores Spit – ridge of sediment that extends from land into deeper water due to long shore sand movement Barrier Island- Long offshore deposits of sand lying parallel to the coast, most of Atlantic and Gulf coasts of U.S. Erosion of the North Eastern U.S. coastlines averages 2.6 feet per year Beach starvation of sand can result from Human Activities such as damning a river that supplies sand to a coastline Beach nourishment can be very costly and temporary

Long Shore Movement of Sand

Rip Currents created by Sand Bar

Rip Currents

Rip Currents