EROSION BY WATER

BELLRINGER How is sand formed?

OBJECTIVE Identify shoreline features created by water erosion

WAVES  When waves crash into rocks over long periods of time, the rocks are broken down into smaller and smaller pieces until they become sand  A shoreline is the boundary between land and a body of water

THE 4 S’S OF EROSION  Sum – The more water there is, the more erosion  Speed – The faster the water moves, the greater the erosion on top of the surface  Slope – The more tilted the area is, the more erosion will occur because of gravity  Surface Material – Different materials will erode faster (Example: Clay will erode faster because it is lighter)

WAVE DEPOSITS  A beach is an area of the shoreline made up of material deposited by waves  Waves carry lots of materials, including sand, rock fragments, dead coral, and shells  This material is deposited on a shoreline, where it forms a beach

BEACHES  Beaches can be many different colors and textures, depending on the type of material deposited by the waves  Pebbles, shells and boulders on stormy shores  Fine, white sand on tropical islands  Black sand on volcanic islands

SHAPING A SHORELINE  Many landforms along the ocean are created during storms  Large waves created by storms have more energy than normal waves  These waves erode and deposit (move and change) rock and sand much more than normal waves, creating unique landforms along the coast

OFFSHORE DEPOSITS  When waves erode material from the shoreline, longshore currents can transport and deposit the material offshore, which creates landforms in open water A sandbar is an underwater or exposed (above water) ridge of sand, gravel, or shell material A barrier spit is an exposed (above water) sandbar connected to the shoreline