Date: Monday 28th September, 2015

NOTE:

Coastal deposition takes place in areas where the flow of water slows down.
Sediment can no longer be carried or rolled along and it has to be deposited.
Coastal deposition most commonly occurs in bays where the energy of the waves
is reduced upon entering the bay. This explains the presence of beaches in bays and
accounts for the lack of beaches at headlands where wave energy is much greater.

Constructive waves deposit material on the shore. Some features formed by

wave deposition are:

SPITS
Spits are also created by deposition. A spit is an extended stretch of beach material
(sand or shingle) that projects out to sea and is joined to the mainland at one end.
Spits are formed where the prevailing wind blows at an angle to the coastline,
resulting in longshore drift for example at the mouth of a river. An example of a
spit is Cocal spit, Trinidad.
Overtime, a spit becomes colonized by grass and bushes, and eventually will grow.
On the shelthred landward side of a spit, where the water is very calm, mudflats
and salt marshes will form. These are important habitats for birds and plants.
The Palisadoes spit, Kingston Jamaica is 13km long and has the international
airport, port and harbor located on it. Sometimes it is referred to as tombolo
because became joined to small islands called cays.

Constructive waves deposit material on the shore. Some features formed by

wave deposition are:

BARS
These are linear deposits of material which are approximately parallel to the coast.
Some are submerged whereas others appear above the waves. They may
be stabilized by vegetation and grow large enough to become barrier islands.
An offshore bar or sandbank is not directly joined to the coast. It is formed where a
long tongue of sand is deposited parallel to the coastline by breaking waves as they
approach the shore. They may lie just below the surface of the water, or emerge
over time to form barrier islands. These islands like the ones off the coast of
Miami from Miami Beach a densely urbanized part of the city. The calm, shallow
water trapped between the offshore bar and the coast is called a seawater lagoon. A
baymouth bar is a tongue of sand or other material which extends across a bay.

Constructive waves deposit material on the shore. Some features formed by

wave deposition are:

TOMBOLOS
A linear deposit of sand and stones, formed by longshore drift, which joins an
island to the mainland is called a tombolo.
The island of Scotts Head on the south coast of Dominica has become attached to
the mainland by a tombolo as a result of sediment by longshore drift from east to
west.
Roads and parking lots as well as some housing settlements can be found on some
tombolos.
A tombolo is an extension of a spit.

Constructive waves deposit material on the shore. Some features formed by

wave deposition are:

BEACHES
Sandy beaches are most often found in sheltered bays where they are called
bayhead beaches. Waves are refracted (bend to mirror the shape of the coast)
around the headlands. It is caused by the shallowing of the water as the waves
enter the ay, which is why deposition occurs. Sandy beaches like Anse de sable
beach, St. Lucia are formed on strectches of coastline protected by fringing reefs
whist pebble beaches, like Anse Gallette, St. Lucia are formed where cliffs are
being eroded by high energy waves.
Beaches play and important part in the tourism industry of a country.
Bayhead beaches are formed when constructive waves deposit sand and other
material between two headlands, as at Maracas Bay and Tyrico Bay in Trinidad.