SHORELINES

GEOLOGY (LESSON 10)

Beaches

Beach features.

The area of sand or gravel (more rarely silt) that covers the shoreline from the low‐wateredge to a
well‐defined upper elevation, such as a bluff or vegetated surface, is called
a beach. The side of the beach facing the ocean is the beach face and is steepest because it
experiences the greatest amount of erosion by wave action. Offshore beyondthe beach face is the
gently sloping marine terrace, a platform that may occasionally be seen at low tide. It is
composed of sediment deposited by retreating waves or may be a bedrock surface that has been
eroded by the waves. The landward edge of the beach is marked by the berm, the edge of a
platform of sediment deposited by higher waves during severe storms. Berms can be quite coarse
grained and contain abundant shell debris.

Beach deposition.

The movement of sediment parallel to the shore by wave action is called longshore drift. A
wave that washes across a beach face at an angle carries sand at that angle until it has lost all its
energy; at that point, the water returns to the sea by running straight down the face of the beach
into the surf zone. This process constantly movessand across the beach face. The sand is carried
the same way by the next wave, andmoves across the face in a series of arcs. Called beach drift,
this zig‐zag pattern cantransport sand and pebbles hundreds of meters a day along the beach.

The majority of the sediment in the beach environment is carried by the longshore current in the
surf zone. The friction and erosion between the breaking waves and thebottom loosens and
suspends sediment particles, which are then transported long distances in the current. The
sediment is eventually deposited as fingerlike features called spits or baymouth bars, which
can block an open bay from the ocean.
A tombolo, a bar of sediment that connects an island to the mainland, forming a smallpeninsula,
can also be formed.

Beach composition.

Most beaches are composed of quartz sand, the majority of which is river sediment deposited in
the ocean and reworked by ocean currents. Because of their high densities, black streaks and
layers of heavy metallic minerals (magnetite, ilmenite) are also concentrated on beaches. Beach
materials can also be limestone or basalt grains.

Seasonal changes.

Wave action in the summer months tends to bring up sand from deeper water and builds wider
beaches. Winter wave action generated by stormier weather erodes thesand and reduces the
width of the beach. The sediment is carried out to sea and
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deposited as an underwater sandbar, which is then eroded by the next summer's wavesto rebuild
the beach.

Beach engineering.
Engineering efforts designed to protect beaches and harbors interfere with sand drift and the
natural development of beaches and coastlines. Breakwaters, built parallel to the shoreline to
provide quiet water for pleasure boating, can result in extreme sedimentation that actually closes
off the area. Jetties are walls that are built on both sides of a harbor and extend into the ocean to
protect the harbor from excessive sedimentation and destructive waves. In most casesone jetty
will trap the sand, resulting in “starving” the beach behind the other jetty, which begins to recede
from erosion. Groins are series of walls built perpendicular to the coast to widen beaches that
are losing sand to longshore drift. The natural beach environment represents an equilibrium
between sand, wind, and waves. Human attempts to modify beach dynamics result in
sedimentation patterns that generally frustrate the designers.

Shoreline Features

The coast is the strip of land near the ocean that includes the beach and the immediateinland area
beside it. Coasts can be rocky and rugged or gently
sloped. Paleocoasts are generally older coasts that were submerged under later marine
transgressions and then lifted tectonically above sea level, exposing their seafloor features.

The constant impact of waves can dramatically alter even the most rugged, rocky coastline.
Soluble rocks like limestones are dissolved, softer rocks are easily eroded,and even harder rocks
like granite are fractured by the impact of waves. An irregular coast has many coves separated
by irregular rocky points called headlands.

Wave action eventually straightens and smoothes the coastline. The headlands receivethe
greatest force of the waves, and the bays are the most sheltered. The headlands are broken down
more quickly than the bays, and the eroded material is deposited in the coves. This process of
the headlands being cut back and the flanking beaches being widened is called coastal
straightening (Figure 1).
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Figure 1: Coastal Straightening

Constant wave action along a rocky shore creates prominent sea cliffs. Sea cliffs retreat by
mass wasting as waves undercut the cliffs in the wave zone, creating rock falls into the sea. Sea
caves are cavities that are eroded into rock in the wave zone. Assea cliffs retreat, they leave
behind, beneath the surf, a flat‐lying bench of eroded rock called the wave‐cut platform.
Stacks are erosional remnants of sea cliffs that are rooted to the wave‐cut platform and stand
above the surface of the water. Sea
arches are stacks whose centers have been eroded through because the rock is softeror more
fractured, resulting in a bridgelike shape.

Depositional coasts are those gently sloped coasts that have been built up by sediments
deposited from longshore drift. Barrier islands are large, elongate masses of sand that parallel
the coast and form islands. These islands are separated from the coast by protected lagoons.
Tidal currents may deposit tidal deltas in gaps between thebarrier islands. Depositional coasts
are also built outward by sedimentation in river deltas. Glacial sediments can also contribute to
the growth of a coastline.

Biological activity is also important in stabilizing a coast. The development of offshorecoral

and algal reefs helps protect the coastline from erosion by being a barrier to strong wave
action. Heavily vegetated coastlines with dense root systems, such as those of mangrove trees
in Florida, anchor the beach, reduce erosion, and help trap sediments.

Estuaries are parts of old river channels that now extend inland from the coast. The shallow
water in estuaries is typically brackish from the mixing of ocean water and freshwat
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Uplifted coasts are former coasts (paleocoasts) that have been lifted above the present coastline
by tectonic activity. They are often identified by uplifted marine terraces that were formed
below the older surf zone and are generally found alongtectonically unstable coastlines, such as
the Pacific coast in the United States and Canada.

Tides

The rhythmic rise and fall of sea level along a coastline is called the tide. The tide is a result of
the gravitational attraction exerted upon the earth by the moon, and to a lesser extent by the sun.
Tides occur about fifty minutes later each successive day for about twenty‐nine days, which
completes one cycle. At the times of the new and full moons, the earth, sun, and moon are
aligned, causing the greatest difference in tidal elevations,called spring tides. Neap tides,
producing the least extreme tidal differences, occur midway between the spring tides.

A tidal current is the horizontal flow of water that accompanies the tides and flows inone of
two opposite directions. Tidal currents preceding high tide are called flood currents; tidal
currents preceding low tide are called ebb currents. The zone of coastline affected by the tidal
currents is called the tidal flat. Tidal action often generates cross‐bedded marine sedimentary
deposits called tidal deltas.

Waves

The dominant agents of erosion in coastal environments are waves. Driven by wind andtidal
action, waves continuously erode, transport, and deposit sediments along ocean coastlines. The
sand is also continuously moved parallel to the beach by longshore currents and is frequently
deposited in harbors, where it must be periodically dredged tokeep the harbor open for
commercial shipping.

Waves move because the surface of the water gains energy from winds that blow over it. Short
waves tend to be produced by local storms; long rolling swells are generated bylarge, distant
storm systems up to thousands of miles away. The surf is that zone where waves break against
the shoreline. The energy of the waves then sorts the sand and moves it along the beach. Beaches
expand or dwindle according to changing coastal conditions. The restless ocean and its waves
make many coastal landforms fragile and short lived. Wave energy is dependent on weather
conditions, the length of the waves, wind speed, the duration of the wind, and the distance the
wind travels over open water (fetch).

Wave height.

The tops of waves are called crests and are separated by the lowest points,
called troughs. The most powerful waves have the greatest wave height. Wave height is the
vertical distance between the crest and the trough. Normal waves can be nearly 5
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meters (15 feet) high; severe tropical storms can generate waves up to 15 meters (50feet) high.

In rare cases, wave energy is derived from a submarine earthquake. Called a tidal wave, seismic
sea wave, or tsunami, these gigantic walls of water can be as high as90 meters (300 feet) and do
tremendous damage to coastlines and cities.

Wavelength.

The wavelength is the horizontal distance between two adjacent crests or two adjacent troughs
(Figure 1). Typical wavelengths vary from about 30 to 300 meters (100−1,000 feet), and waves
move at speeds up to 50 miles per hour. The depth of the wave motionis about half the
wavelength; for example, if the wavelength is about 150 meters, 75 meters below the wave crest
the water is calm.

Figure 1: Waves

Wave movement. Individual molecules of water are not physically transported with the waves
as they move across the surface. The energy of the wave passes through the water molecules and
does not carry them along. At the surface of the wave, a water particle moves in a roughly
circular, vertical orbit; the radius of the orbit is equal to abouthalf the wave height. During the
passing of the wave, the water particle follows a circular path and returns to its original position
after the wave has passed. The deeper the water particle is from the surface of the ocean, the
smaller is its orbit. Water particles at depths greater than half the wavelength have essentially no
motion generated by surface waves. Waves in the open sea are called waves of
oscillation because of this orbital motion.

The circular orbits of water molecules are flattened into oval patterns as the wave approaches
the shallow water near the shore. Friction with the bottom begins to slow the wave down, and
the upward slope of the bottom pushes the water upward to formhigher waves. A high wave in
which the crest falls forward in front of the main body ofthe wave is called a breaker. At this
point, the waves have become waves of translation. As the water crashes onto shore, its
motion is controlled by the back andforth energies in the surf zone. The still‐turbulent sheet of
water that sweeps up the slope of the beach is called the swash; the lower‐energy water that
flows back down the beach into the surf zone is called the backwash.

Waves generally approach the shore at an angle. The end of the angled wave closest toshore reacts
to the decreasing depth by slowing, while the other end of the wave
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continues at full speed. Consequently, as the depth decreases, the wave crest bends tobecome
more parallel with the shore. This process is called wave refraction.

Longshore currents and rip currents.

Wave action continuously moves sand across or along the beach in the surf zone. Evenafter
refraction most waves are still not exactly parallel to the shore. The push of these waves creates
longshore currents, which carry sand parallel to the coastline and roll pebbles and gravel along
the bottom. Longshore currents are usually quite strong and transport most of the sand in the
shoreline environment. Generally, 1 to 2 million tons ofsand are moved along a single beach
environment every year.

A rip current is water that flows straight back out to sea after its waves have broken on the
beach. These currents are most prominent immediately after a large set of waves has broken and
tend to develop where wave heights are lower. They flow quickly back through the surf zone and
dissipate in the open ocean. Rip currents look like fingers of discolored, muddy water that extend
through the surf zone. Being caught in a rip currentcan frighten even the most experienced
swimmers. Because the currents tend to be narrow, a person can swim out of one by swimming
parallel to the shore across the current, not toward the shore against it.