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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beach | 4/7 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beach | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T07:34:24.791061+00:00 | kb-cron |
==== Concentration of runoff ==== Beaches provide a filter for runoff from the coastal plain. If the runoff is naturally dispersed along the beach, water borne silt and organic matter will be retained on the land and will feed the flora in the coastal area. Runoff that is dispersed along the beach will tend to percolate through the beach and may emerge from the beach at low tide. The retention of the freshwater may also help to maintain underground water reserves and will resist salt water incursion. If the surface flow of the runoff is diverted and concentrated by drains that create constant flows over the beach above the sea or river level, the beach will be eroded and ultimately form an inlet unless longshore flows deposit sediments to repair the breach. Once eroded, an inlet may allow tidal inflows of salt water to pollute areas inland from the beach and may also affect the quality of underground water supplies and the height of the water table.
==== Deprivation of runoff ==== Some flora naturally occurring on the beach head requires freshwater runoff from the land. Diversion of freshwater runoff into drains may deprive these plants of their water supplies and allow sea water incursion, increasing the saltiness of the groundwater. Species that are not able to survive in salt water may die and be replaced by mangroves or other species adapted to salty environments.
==== Inappropriate beach nourishment ==== Beach nourishment is the importing and deposition of sand or other sediments in an effort to restore a beach that has been damaged by erosion. Beach nourishment often involves excavation of sediments from riverbeds or sand quarries. This excavated sediment may be substantially different in size and appearance to the naturally occurring beach sand. In extreme cases, beach nourishment may involve placement of large pebbles or rocks in an effort to permanently restore a shoreline subject to constant erosion and loss of foreshore. This is often required where the flow of new sediment caused by the longshore current has been disrupted by construction of harbors, breakwaters, causeways or boat ramps, creating new current flows that scour the sand from behind these structures and deprive the beach of restorative sediments. If the causes of the erosion are not addressed, beach nourishment can become a necessary and permanent feature of beach maintenance. During beach nourishment activities, care must be taken to place new sediments so that the new sediments compact and stabilize before aggressive wave or wind action can erode them. Material that is concentrated too far down the beach may form a temporary groyne that will encourage scouring behind it. Sediments that are too fine or too light may be eroded before they have compacted or been integrated into the established vegetation. Foreign unwashed sediments may introduce flora or fauna that are not usually found in that locality. Brighton Beach, on the south coast of England, is a shingle beach that has been nourished with very large pebbles in an effort to withstand the erosion of the upper area of the beach. These large pebbles made the beach unwelcoming for pedestrians for a period of time until natural processes integrated the naturally occurring shingle into the pebble base.
== Use for recreation ==
=== History ===
Even in Roman times, wealthy people spent their free time on the coast. They also built large villa complexes with bathing facilities (so-called maritime villas) in particularly beautiful locations. Excavations of Roman architecture can still be found today, for example on the Amalfi Coast near Naples and in Barcola in Trieste. The development of the beach as a popular leisure resort from the mid-19th century was the first manifestation of what is now the global tourist industry. The first seaside resorts were opened in the 18th century for the aristocracy, who began to frequent the seaside as well as the then fashionable spa towns, for recreation and health. One of the earliest such seaside resorts, was Scarborough in Yorkshire during the 1720s; it had been a fashionable spa town since a stream of acidic water was discovered running from one of the cliffs to the south of the town in the 17th century. The first rolling bathing machines were introduced by 1735.
The opening of the resort in Brighton and its reception of royal patronage from King George IV, extended the seaside as a resort for health and pleasure to the much larger London market, and the beach became a centre for upper-class pleasure and frivolity. This trend was praised and artistically elevated by the new romantic ideal of the picturesque landscape; Jane Austen's unfinished novel Sanditon is an example of that. Later, Queen Victoria's long-standing patronage of the Isle of Wight and Ramsgate in Kent ensured that a seaside residence was considered as a highly fashionable possession for those wealthy enough to afford more than one home.
==== Seaside resorts for the working class ====