Beaches

Deposition along a coast occurs in areas of low-energy waves where the input of material exceeds the output.

Beaches and other depositional landforms represent a store within the marine system.

Beaches tend to be composed of either sand or shingle but sometimes both occur at different places along the beach profile.

Shingle beaches tend to be steeper than sandy beaches.

At the upper end of the beach, storm ridges occur.

As these are often beyond the reach of waves except in the highest tides, they may become colonised by salt-tolerant plants.

Lower down the beach, there are ridges or berms which correspond to successively lower tides.

The profile of a beach is constantly changing but will show the greatest contrast between spring and neap tides and between summer and winter seasons.

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