How would you describe longshore drift?
Longshore (littoral) drift is the movement of material along the shore by wave action. It happens when waves approach the beach at an angle. The swash (waves moving up the beach) carries material up and along the beach.
What does longshore drift move?
Sediment is moved along the coastline in a process known as longshore drift. This results in a zigzag motion as sediment is transported along the coastline. This process means that over time beaches can change shape.
What is longshore drift an example of?
Longshore Drift (littoral drift) This usually occurs in one direction as dictated by the prevailing wind. For example, the prevailing wind along the Holderness Coast is north-easterly. As the result waves break on to the beach obliquely at an angle of around 45 degrees.
What is longshore drift BBC Bitesize?
Longshore drift is a process of transportation that shifts eroded material along the coastline. Waves approach the coast at an angle. Swash carries sediment up the beach at an angle. Backwash carries sediment down the beach with gravity – at right angles to the beach.
What is another name for longshore drift?
Longshore drift is simply the sediment moved by the longshore current. This current and sediment movement occur within the surf zone. The process is also known as littoral drift.
Why is longshore drift bad?
Longshore drift can be very destructive to manmade structures. In either case, the water in a longshore current flows up onto the beach, and back into the ocean, as it moves in a “sheet” formation. As this sheet of water moves on and off the beach, it can “capture” and transport beach sediment back out to sea.
Is longshore drift good or bad?
Longshore drift plays a large role in the evolution of a shoreline, as if there is a slight change of sediment supply, wind direction, or any other coastal influence longshore drift can change dramatically, affecting the formation and evolution of a beach system or profile.
What is the difference between longshore current and longshore drift?
A longshore current is a current that flows parallel to the shore within the zone of breaking waves. Longshore drift is the movement of sediments along a coast by waves that approach at an angle to the shore but then the swash recedes directly away from it.
Why do people stop longshore drift?
Groynes control beach material and prevent undermining of the promenade seawall. Groynes interrupt wave action and protect the beach from being washed away by longshore drift. Longshore drift is the wave action that slowly erodes the beach.
Is longshore drift erosion?
Longshore drift is the movement of material along the shore by wave action. Longshore drift happens when waves moves towards the coast at an angle. Longshore drift provides a link between erosion and deposition. Material in one place is eroded, transported then deposited elsewhere.
What are the impacts of longshore drift?
As this sheet of water moves on and off the beach, it can “capture” and transport beach sediment back out to sea. This process, known as “longshore drift,” can cause significant beach erosion.
How does longshore drift affect the environment?
Longshore currents are affected by the velocity and angle of a wave. When a wave breaks at a more acute (steep) angle on a beach, encounters a steeper beach slope, or is very high, longshore currents increase in velocity. This process, known as “longshore drift,” can cause significant beach erosion.
What do you mean by longshore drift in geography?
Longshore drift is the zig-zag movement of material along the coast by the sea. Longshore (littoral) drift is the movement of material along the shore by wave action. It happens when waves approach the beach at an angle.
What do you call the movement of sand along the coast?
The transport of sand and pebbles along the coast is called longshore drift. The prevailing wind (the direction the wind ususally blows from) causes waves to approach the coast at an angle.
Why are tidal inlets important for longshore drift?
Tidal inlets can act as sinks and sources for large amounts of material, which therefore impacts on adjacent parts of the coastline. The structuring of tidal inlets is also important for longshore drift as if an inlet is unstructured sediment may by pass the inlet and form bars at the down-drift part of the coast.
How is sediment deposition related to null point hypothesis?
Sediment deposition throughout a shoreline profile conforms to the null point hypothesis; where gravitational and hydraulic forces determine the settling velocity of grains in a seaward fining sediment distribution. Long shore occurs in a 90 to 80 degree backwash so it would be presented as a right angle with the wave line.