The World’s Beaches

Take this book to the beach; it will open up a whole new world. Illustrated throughout with color photographs, maps, and graphics, it explores one of the planet’s most dynamic environments—from tourist beaches to Arctic beaches strewn with ice chunks to steaming hot tropical shores.The World’s Beaches tells how beaches work, explains why they vary so much, and shows how dramatic changes can occur on them in a matter of hours. It discusses tides, waves, and wind; the patterns of dunes, washover fans, and wrack lines; and the shape of berms, bars, shell lags, cusps, ripples, and blisters. What is the world’s longest beach? Why do some beaches sing when you walk on them? Why do some have dark rings on their surface and tiny holes scattered far and wide? This fascinating, comprehensive guide also considers the future of beaches, and explains how extensively people have affected them—from coastal engineering to pollution, oil spills, and rising sea levels.

Take this book to the beach; it will open up a whole new world. Illustrated throughout with color photographs, maps, and graphics, it explores one of the planet’s most dynamic environments—from tourist beaches to Arctic beaches strewn with ice chunks to steaming hot tropical shores.The World’s Beaches tells how beaches work, explains why they vary so much, and shows how dramatic changes can occur on them in a matter of hours. It discusses tides, waves, and wind; the patterns of dunes, washover fans, and wrack lines; and the shape of berms, bars, shell lags, cusps, ripples, and blisters. What is the world’s longest beach? Why do some beaches sing when you walk on them? Why do some have dark rings on their surface and tiny holes scattered far and wide? This fascinating, comprehensive guide also considers the future of beaches, and explains how extensively people have affected them—from coastal engineering to pollution, oil spills, and rising sea levels.

Dedication Page (Santa Aguila Foundation)

PREFACE
(ACKNOWLEDGMENTS)

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
LIST OF TABLES

Part I: THE GLOBAL CHARACTER OF BEACHES

Chapter 1: A WORLD OF BEACHES
Beaches: Crossroads of History
Beaches: Avenues of Commerce
Beaches: Nature’s Most Dynamic Environment
Beaches: Varied Materials
Beaches: Obstacle Courses
Beaches: To Be or Not To Be
Beaches: Comber’s Delight or Nature’s Trash Collector?
Beaches: A Natural Laboratory

Chapter 2: BEACHES OF THE WORLD
What is a Beach?
Recipe for Making a Beach
Classification of Coasts and Beaches
Classifications and a Global Model
Beach Sediments and the Plate Tectonic Setting
Beaches as Landforms
Climate and Types of Coasts
We Stand on Their Shoulders

Chapter 3: OF WHAT ARE BEACHES MADE: SEDIMENTS
Beach Sediments
Grain Size, Sorting and Shape
Grain Composition
Terrigenous Sediments
Heavy Minerals
Carbonate Sediments
Other Beach Materials

Chapter 4: HOW BEACHES WORK: WAVES, CURRENTS, TIDES AND WIND
The Most Dynamic Place on Earth
Waves
Wave Energy
Wave Types
Breakers
Wave Refraction, Diffraction and Reflection
Currents (Alongshore; Onshore; Offshore)
Wave-Current-Sediment Interaction
Tsunamis
Tides
Tides and Beach Groundwater
Other Water Level Changes
Surges
El Niño
Wind
The Global Picture

Chapter 5: THE FORM OF THE BEACH: CRABS-EYE AND BIRDS-EYE VIEWS
Beach Profiles: The Crab’s Eye View
Profile Changes
Beach Plans: The Bird’s Eye View
Berms and Cusps
Washover Fans
Offshore Bars


Part II: HOW TO READ A BEACH

Chapter 6: THE BEACH SURFACE UP-CLOSE: IMPRINTS OF TIDES, CURRENTS, AND WAVES
Near-Shore, Beach, and Tidal Flat Features
Ripple Marks
Modified Ripple Marks
Swash and Backwash Features
Other Surface Features

Chapter 7: ESCAPE FROM WITHIN: AIR AND WATER IN THE BEACH
Knee Deep in Sand: Airy Beaches
Air Escape Structures
Watery Beaches and Water Escape Structures

Chapter 8: WHICH EVER WAY THE WIND BLOWS: REWORKING THE BEACH SURFACE
Wind on Wet Sand and Mud
Wet-to-Dry Transition Structures
Wind on Dry Sediment
Dunes and Dune Structures
Dune Plants: Surviving in a Desert

Chapter 9: BEACH CREATURES: TRACKS, TRAILS, AND TRACES
Beach Animals from Micro to Macro
Macrofaunal Clues
Molluscs (clams and snails)
Crustaceans
Chelicerata
Polychaetes
Other Invertebrate Animals
Vetebrates
Evidence of the Habitat Role of Animals

Chapter 10: CARBONATE BEACHES: SEA SHELLS AND THE STORIES THEY TELL
Carbonate Shells, Skeletons, and Secretions
Other Carbonate Sediments
Non-Calcareous Plant and Animal Remains
Shell Abundance
Where do Seashells Come From?
The Significance of Broken Seashells
Shell Rounding
Orientation of Shells on the Beach
Secondary Shell Color
Shell Collecting: An Environmental Afterthought

Chapter 11: DIGGING THE BEACH: INTO THE THIRD DIMENSION
Bedding
Black Sands and Cross Bedding
Burrows and Bioturbation

Part III: THE GLOBAL THREAT TO BEACHES

Chapter 12: BEACHES AND PEOPLE
Coastal Engineering
Hard Stabilization
Soft Stabilization
Other Damaging Activities
Water Pollution
Oil Spills
The Environmental Truths About Beaches

Chapter 13: EPILOGUE
The Urbanized Beach: From Middens to the Maelstrom of Development

GLOSSARY
REFERENCES