(ac). Coastal and Marine Processes and Landforms: Beach Drift

Beach Drift

When incoming waves strike a shoreline beach drift can cause the movement of sediment along the shoreline. Beach drift begins when the waves reach the shore at an angle (not parallel) causing the swash and entrained sediment to travel obliquely up the beach (dark blue arows in the animation below). The returning backwash moves back to the ocean with a direction that is defined by the slope of the beach (light blue arows in the animation below). The differences in the direction of the swash and backwash cause a net longshore movement of sediment. In the diagram below, this movement is to the center of the beach.

 

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