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Longshore drift from longshore current is a geological process that consists of the transportation of sediments (clay, silt, pebbles, sand, shingle, shells) along a coast parallel to the shoreline, which is dependent on the angle of incoming wave direction. Oblique incoming wind squeezes water along the coast, generating a water current that ...
In this case, longshore drift as well as prevailing wind and waves bring sediment together from opposite directions. [2] If there is a large angle between the waves and the shoreline, the sediment converges, accumulates, and forms beach ridges. [2] [5] Over time, a cuspate foreland forms as a result of continued accretion and progradation. [4]
If the wind direction is constant, the longer the fetch and the greater the wind speed, the more wind energy is transferred to the water surface and the larger the resulting sea state will be. [4] Sea state will increase over time until local energy dissipation balances energy transfer to the water from the wind and a fully developed sea results.
This submerged bar of sediment allows longshore drift or littoral drift to continue to transport sediment in the direction the waves are breaking, forming an above-water spit. Without the complementary process of littoral drift, the bar would not build above the surface of the waves becoming a spit and would instead be leveled off underwater.
The direction of the uprush varies with the prevailing wind, whereas the backwash is always perpendicular to the coastline. This asymmetrical motion of swash can cause longshore drift as well as cross-shore sediment transport .
It is oriented toward the northeast, which means the direction of longshore drift, a constructive geomorphologic process, is northeasterly. Longshore drift through the Strait of Georgia, therefore, tends to be northeasterly. Because waves are mainly powered by wind, the waves approaching Semiahmoo hit the shore obliquely, at an angle of ...
The longshore drift of sediment can be considered both a source and a sink due to the fact that in some case it can add sediment to a coastline but in others transport sediment away from a coastline. An example of both extremes of longshore drift can be found on the Canterbury coastline in New Zealand, either side of Banks Peninsular.
The endless cycle of swash and backwash and resulting beach drift can be observed on all beaches. This may differ between coasts. Rhossili in Wales is a low-energy shoreline. Probably the most important effect is longshore drift (LSD)(Also known as Littoral Drift), the process by which sediment is continuously moved along beaches by wave action ...