shoreline

beach

• a pebbly or sandy shore, especially by the ocean between high- and low-water marks.

wave

• a wave on the surface of a body of water.

abrasion

• the process of scraping or wearing away.

Wave Refraction

• An example of refraction is when waves approach a straight shoreline at an angle. The part of the wave crest closer to shore is in shallower water and moving slower than the part away from the shore in deeper water.

Longshore Transport

• The longshore transport is the process responsible for the movement of sand and sediment along the coastline. Sand and other particles are transported with the help of the longshore current and beach drift. Learn how these factors shape shorelines.

Wave-cut Cliff

• A wave-cut platform, coastal benches, or wave-cut benches is the narrow flat area often found at the base of a sea cliff or along the shoreline of a lake, bay, or sea that was created by the erosion of waves.

sea arch

• A sea arch is a natural arch or bridge made of stone that has been created when water wears away the underside of a rock, leaving just the top behind. They commonly form where cliffs meet the sea. Natural arches are created through the process of land, wind, or water erosion, or some combination of these methods.

sea stack

• A stack or sea stack is a geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, formed by wave erosion. Stacks are formed over time by wind and water, processes of coastal geomorphology.

spit

• a small point of land especially of sand or gravel running into a body of water

sandbar

• a long, narrow sandbank, especially at the mouth of a river.

tombolo

• a bar of sand or shingle joining an island to the mainland.

barrier islands

• Barrier islands are long, narrow, offshore deposits of sand or sediment that run parallel to the coastline. They are separated from the main land by a shallow sound, bay, or lagoon and are often found in chains along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico. The islands themselves are separated by narrow tidal inlets.

groin

• the projecting curved line along which two intersecting vaults meet

breakwater

• Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defense or to protect an anchorage from the effects of both weather and longshore drift.

seawall

• a wall or embankment erected to prevent the sea from encroaching on or eroding an area of land.

beach nourishment

• Beach nourishment is the process of dumping or pumping sand from elsewhere onto an eroding shoreline to create a new beach or to widen the existing beach. Beach nourishment does not stop erosion, it simply gives the erosional forces (usually waves) something else to "chew on" for awhile.