beaches

exhibit net longshore transport of sediment and the development of discrete littoral drift cells, within which sources and sinks for sediment and a direction of net transport can be defined. (from Shipman 2008)

Beaches are organized into sites based on the extent littoral drift cells. The 2500 miles of Puget Sound shoreline has been divided into 744 distinct littoral cells where the presence of bluff-backed beach indicates the likely presence of sediment input and transport along retreating coastal bluffs (Cereghino et al 2012).

Littoral drift cells are units of beach that include a source of sediment, conveyance of sediment along the shoreline, and a sink for sediment, either at a convergence zone where two drift cells merge, or offshore below the depth of wave action. Shipman 2008 differentiates between beach systems with littoral drift, and pocket beaches where sediment is relatively contained.

Relationships


Source: beaches on Salish Sea Wiki