Creation Of The Beach

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by the action of waves breaking at an angle to shore. Longshore transport can deliver up to a million cubic yards of sediment annually to a single beach. In the second process, sand deposited onshore by the longshore current is then oscillated by waves breaking onto and receding from the beach. This continual onshore-offshore movement gradually pushes the sand along the beach edge. both the longshore transport of sediment along the coast and the movement of sand by waves along the foreshore are a part of the process called littoral drift.
The California coastline has been divided into geographic segments called littoral cells, that incorporate a complete cycle of beach sediment supply, sand transport by the longshore current, and eventual permanent loss of sand from the littoral cell. The five types of littoral cells along the California coast are each characterized by a different littoral process determined by the geographic features unique to the cell type. One type of cell is ...

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easily eroded shales and sandstones that edge the coast here continuously crumble away, creating on even coastline over time.
Some beach types are found along both Northern and Southern California coasts. Narrow cove beaches like those at Laguna Beach in Orange County form where the coast is composed of conglomerate rock and hard sandstone; even when exposed to direct wave attack this rock type is highly resistant to erosion. The narrow beaches formed within there coves often lose all their sand during winter storms, exposing the underlying cobbles, as at Boomer Beach, south of Point La Jolla in San Diego County. Barrier beaches and sand spits are also present along the coast at river ...

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