Coastal Processes

Deposition
 What is coastal deposition?
Coastal deposition is when the sea drops or
deposits material. This can include sand,
sediment, and shingle, resulting in
landforms of coastal deposition.
Landforms of coastal deposition?
Beaches
Spits
Bars
Tombolo
Beaches
 Formation of beaches
A beach is a shoreline features of
deposited materials comprising of an
accumulation of materials such as
boulders, pebbles, shingle, sand and mud.
 Formation of spits, bars and
tombolos.
Spits, bars and tombolos are formed by
the process of longshore drift.
 What is longshore drift
This is a common process of coastal transportation by which sediment is
moved along the coast in a zig zag fashion
 How does longshore drift occur
• The prevailing wind (the direction the wind usually blows from) causes
waves to approach the coast at an angle.
• The swash carries the sand and pebbles up the beach at the same angle.
• The backwash, however carries the material straight back down the
beach.
• If a pebble was placed in the water it would be carried along the
coastline in a zig-zag motion .
 Spits
This is a long, narrow stretch of sand jutting
out into the sea from the land.
Formation of Spits
 Formation of Spits
Spits are formed by the process of longshore drift and the
tend to occur where there is a change in the direction of the
coastline – for example, at the mouth of a river.

In order for a spit to form, the waves must approach at an

angle so that material is move along the coast rather than
simply up and down the beach.

On the sheltered side of a spit, where the water is calm,

mudflats and salt marshes will form.
 Bars
A bar is a long narrow stretch of sand that stretches across a bay
leaving a lagoon behind. Bars joins two headlands on either side of a
bay.
Formation of Bars
 Tombolo
A tombolo is a long narrow stretch of sand formed when
spits grow out from the mainland to join an island.
Spit, bar and tombolo
Spit, bar or tombolo –
No Man’s Land Tobago