11.3. Intertidal sandyshore


11.3. Intertidal Sandyshore
Sandy beaches are intertidal coastal habitat. They exposed to sever wave action. It makes the transition from land to sea. Sandy beaches support high proportion of in faunal species. Deposition of eroded materials submerged by water and size fraction determines the life.
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Sandy shores are loose deposits of sand, gravel or shells that cover the shoreline. Beaches serve as buffer zones or shock absorbers that protect the coastline, sea cliffs or dunes from direct wave action. It is an extremely dynamic environment where sand, water and air are always in motion. Beaches also provide important coastal recreational areas for a many people.
Formation
Sandy shores form through the deposition of sand resulting from the erosion of glacial till and bedrock in the area of occurrence. Sandy beaches are soft shores that are formed by deposition of particles that have been carried by water currents from other areas. The two main types of beach material are quartz (=silica) sands of terrestrial origin and carbonate sands of marine origin. The carbonate sand is weathered from mollusk shells and skeletons of other animals. Other material includes heavy minerals, basalt (=volcanic origin) and feldspar.
Physical characteristics
•Substrate: the substrate includes particle sizes ranging from fine gravel to sandy mud. Wave action: exposure to wave action, related to dominant wind direction, storm and ocean-swell conditions, and influence of tidal and alongshore currents affects the mobility of the sand.
•Tidal regime: tidal range determines the area of shore that is exposed to the air.
•Water–land interaction: water conditions include summer and winter temperature extremes, turbidity and salinity.
•Climatic conditions: air conditions include summer and winter temperature extremes, humidity, precipitation and wind.

Last modified: Friday, 13 April 2012, 5:43 AM