How Waves Affect A Beach….

Natural wave erosion that happens globally

Hayley

A wave erosion is the wearing away of land, by the sea. This is a natural thing that happens globally. That means all around the world. Erosion is the wearing away of land by water, wind, or waves.

Waves affecting stones

When the wave rolls over it drags the sand and the stones with it.  As they roll the stones knock the rough edges off against other stones or rough surfaces. This is how the stones and the rocks on a beach are smooth and round instead of rough and pointy.

Two types of wave

There are two main type of waves. These are destructive waves and constructive waves.  A constructive wave builds, shapes and molds a beach.  This small wave carries the sand and stones in its swash. The swash is the water that rises up to the shoreline. The backwash is the water that is remained of the wave that rolled. The backwash then drags the sand and stones back as the water soaks into the sand below. Constructive waves are most likely to happen in summer.

A destructive wave destroys beaches. This waves are normally rapid and big. When it is this type of wave the backwash takes more time to soak into the sand. These types of wave are more common in winter.

The four processes

There are four processes of wave erosion. These can include corrasion abrasion, hydraulic action and attrition. They also affect coastal erosion, beaches and cliffs.

Corrasion

Corrasion is when the waves pick up things on a beach. These are objects such as pebbles. The waves throw it with its power to lower part of a cliff.

Abrasion

Abrasion happens when powerful waves, which contain sand and larger objects erode on the shoreline. This means that the wave washes up on shoreline and then washes back with all the sand and stones that it collected from the shoreline.

Hydraulic Action

Hydraulic action is when waves hit the lower part of a cliff air is compressed into its cracks. When the wave washes back the air escapes out of the gaps and cracks.

Attrition

Attrition is when the wave causes pebbles to bump into each other and this causes them to break up.

In conclusion, there are few ways that waves can affect the shoreline on a beach. And I personally think that not many people think about what happens out there in the rolling waves and sea.

Geology Glossary

Word- Erosion

Meaning: The natural wearing away of the earth’s surface

W0rd- Globally

Meaning: All around the world or involving the entire world.

Hydraulic

Meaning: operated by, moved by, or employing water or other liquids in motion. - Dictionary.com

Coastal

Meaning: Located near a coast

Bibliography

Wave action:

http://www.geography.learnontheinternet.co.uk/topics/waves.html 

Wave erosion process: http://www.geography.learnontheinternet.co.uk/topics/coastal_processes.html