White sand beach on the west coast of Scotland with clouds blue sky the Atlantic Ocean and the Isle of Skye in background
Horizontal photo of a sandy beach on the west coast of Scotland and the place where Gavin Maxwell lived with his otter Edal made famous in the book Ring of Bright Water in Scotland Great Britain UK Europe. A beach, or strand, is a geological formation consisting of loose rock particles such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, cobble, or even shell along the shoreline of a body of water. Beaches are deposition landforms, and are the result of wave action by which waves or currents move sand or other loose sediments of which the beach is made as these particles are held in suspension. Alternatively, sand may be moved by saltation (a bouncing movement of large particles). Beach materials come from erosion of rocks offshore, as well as from headland erosion and slumping producing deposits of scree. A coral reef offshore is a significant source of sand particles. The shape of a beach depends on whether or not the waves are constructive or destructive, and whether the material is sand or shingle. Constructive waves move material up the beach while destructive waves move the material down the beach. On sandy beaches, the backwash of the waves removes material forming a gently sloping beach. On shingle beaches the swash is dissipated because the large particle size allows percolation, so the backwash is not very powerful, and the beach remains steep. Cusps and horns form where incoming waves divide, depositing sand as horns and scouring out sand to form cusps. This forms the uneven face on some sand shorelines.
Size: 6200px × 4141px
Photo credit: © Michael Sayles / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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