Littoral drift occurs as incoming waves move toward the beach at an angle, transporting sediment particles to shore at the same angle (swash), while backwash pulls particles straight back into the water. The resulting zig-zag motion moves particles along a shoreline, eventually forming features such as barrier islands, tidal inlets, and spits. (Loved seeing Dauphin Island in the
Longshore drift is movement of sediment along the coastline. The prevailing wind blows waves carrying sediment into the beach at an angle, the waves break on the shore and as the water runs back into the sea it carries the sediment back down the beach, perpendicular to the angle. This will lead to a zigzag motion (/\/\/\/\/) as
The tiny pieces of rocks broken off by weathering are called sediment or alluvium. Erosion is the process of transportation of this sediment which on sea cliffs sediments becomes part of the seafloor and is washed away with the waves. The larger rocks that are broken off by sediment as shown in this picture are called scree or talus; scree builds up at the bottom of cliffs as the rocks tumble down, these piles are called scree slopes or talus piles.
Millions of years ago, Connecticut was close to the equator and that caused the Wisconsin glacier to move. When, the Glacier was melting the water was running under the ice and caring rocks with the flow of the water. This is called plucking and the reason why is because when one rock is picked up that rock picks up other rocks and the rocks start shooting out like bullets and end up on a beach. This formed the Hammonasset beach. When the Wisconsin glacier stopped melting/ was all water the Wisconsin glacier formed Lake Hitchcock. All of the deebree that came down from the flow of the water was keeping all of the water trapped into a valley. When, the beebree/ dam broke most of the water went into Lake Connecticut. When all of the water was added to Lake Connecticut the water levels ross so high that the land got covered by water and then Lake connecticut was connected to the Atlantic Ocean. There was so much water that all of the water didn’t go into the Atlantic Ocean. Some of the water stayed in the valley that Lake hitchcock was. This is how the Connecticut river and Long Island Sound was
* The sand dunes on the beaches. This area is affected by wind erosion as well as the tides if adequate vegetative cover is not present. The main type of erosion, from the sea, takes the sand from the sand dunes as well as the rest of the beach in a rip. The sand is then pulled out to sea where it forms a sand bar. On calmer days, the sand is brought back to the beach.
These are called barrier islands. Most are long and thin, oriented parallel to the shoreline. These islands have many things in common but also have many different characteristics. They all consist of a sandy beach facing the ocean or Gulf with several other habitat zones including dunes, swales, maritime forests, marshes and tidal flats. The specific natural environments vary from island to island. The bays, estuaries and lagoons found behind the islands are typically rich in marine life. The islands serve to protect these ecologically valuable places. These small land masses also protect human communities on the mainland from the destructive energy of tropical storms and hurricanes. Despite their protective function, barrier islands are very dynamic and always on the move. Their formation depends upon the movement of sand by waves, tides and currents, and these forces continue to act on all barrier islands. Many barrier islands are popular vacation sites. Resort towns have been developed on many of these islands. However, attempts to prevent erosional forces from threatening human-built structures are usually
The longshore drift shapes the coastline by carrying sand from sites of high wave activity to those of low wave activity. The volume of sand carried away from or delivered to different points along the coast can be as much as 2,000 cubic meters per day (71,000 cubic feet), enough sand to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool (Nepf).
Barrier Island is a low edge of sand that is parallel to the mainland with a distance of 2 to 19 miles’ off the shoreline, 300 barrier islands border the shore of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Padre Island, Texas. The barrier island defends the coast from the full power of storm waves. In the central of the barrier island and the mainland is a peaceful lagoon or a bay. Mainly most of these barrier island are 0.6-3 miles wide and amid from 9-18 miles long. The highest structures example of barrier island are sand dunes with the height of 16-33 feet; however, in some places the dunes can reach the height of 100 feet. Few barrier islands are initiated as spits that were then detached from the inland by upsurge corrosion, rising of sea level resulting
Long Island is famous for its sandy ocean beaches. Between the barrier beach and the main coast is the Great South Bay. The beaches and dunes have very different characteristics. The sandy beach is the junction of land and ocean. The sandy beach consists of two zones, the swash zone and the drift line. The swash zone is the area of wet sand, caused by the incoming wave. The drift line is formed by the dead seaweed and other aquatic plants. Behind the sandy beach is the primary dune. The primary dune's main function is to absorb the force of the ocean and protect the great south bay and the island's main coast. In some cases secondary dunes form. These dunes are behind the primary dune and are therefor protected from the ocean. This provides the stability necessary for plant growth. Many time a maritime forests will form on secondary dunes.
sand being deposited upon it. The only reason why beaches shrink is due to erosion and this
8. What are different ways that earth materials are moved around in the oceans? Surf is a powerful force. It causes erosion and moves sediment from one location to another. Currents are another manner in which materials are transported through the ocean system. There is a longshore current and a beach drift responsible for disturbing and transporting materials.
The ripples on the sand dunes form when the sand starts to pile up high enough to cause a slope on the wind-blowing side of the dune. Once the sand piles up past the angle of repose, approximately 30 degrees, the extra weight causes it to become unstable. The sand particles making up this extra weight then slips down the other side of the slope.
To support the theory of continental drift is through topography, surveying the floors of oceans, charts of rock magnetism, and statistics on rock ages (Trefil & Hazen, 2010). At one time scientist believed that the deep ocean floors were flat; accumulating the sediment that progressively wore away from the prehistoric landmasses (Trefil & Hazen, 2010). However, they discovered steep-walled valleys and elevated highlands. This was evidences that just as the continents are transformed and are active, so to is the seafloor (Trefil & Hazen, 2010). The Mid- Atlantic Ridge, positioned in the central part of the Atlantic Ocean, is recorded to be the longest mountain range on this planet. Volcanoes, lava flow, and earthquakes are a source of
Another abiotic factor that helps the formations of different zones would be the tidal movement (aerial exposure) effecting the sea life shore community. The tidal zones we found at Siren’s Rocks are the sublittoral zone, low tide, mid tide, high tide and supralittoral zone. These are all on the data recorded by us at the rocky shore we researched.
The Effects of Human Activity on Coastal Landforms Human activities add another layer of complexity to the natural processes of coastal lands and materials. These activities may have direct or indirect effects on our changing coastlines. They may effect sources of new sediment to the coast and the movement of sediment within the coastal environment. Sediment starvation caused by river and coastal management is one effect of human activities on the coast. For some coastal regions, such as the Pacific coast, a large part of their sediment is supplied by rivers.
The end of October and beginning of November two very different yet also seemingly similar celebrations take place. Halloween (or All Hallows’ Eve) is celebrated on October 31 in several countries including the USA. It has its roots in pagan celebrations for the end of the harvest season, various festivals of the dead, and the Celtic Samhain festival. Day of the Dead (or Dia de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday, which is also celebrated in parts of Latin America and in the U.S., to remember and pray for family and friends who have died. It takes place on November 1. Neither of these holidays are religious in nature, but each holds their own unique set of symbols and traditions some of which go back hundreds of years. Both of these holidays are in place to bring the living closer to the dead and to connect the two realms.