What is the main cause of beach erosion?
What causes coastal erosion? Coastal erosion is typically driven by the action of waves and currents, but also by mass wasting processes on slopes, and subsidence (particularly on muddy coasts).
How was Ocean City Maryland formed?
The Ocean City Inlet was formed during a major hurricane in 1933, which also destroyed the train tracks across the Sinepuxent Bay. The inlet separated what is now Ocean City from Assateague Island.
What causes beach accretion?
Accretion begins with sand deposition on shore, from the movement of the waves, tides and longshore current. Some sand is then dried out by the wind and sunlight, allowing it to be blown to other areas of the beach by the prevailing winds. Sand is the major component in accretion/erosion cycles.
Do seawalls cause erosion?
Seawalls can cause increased erosion in adjacent areas of the beach that do not have seawalls. This so-called “flanking erosion” takes place at the ends of seawalls. Wave energy can be reflected from a seawall sideways along the shore, causing coastal bluffs without protection to erode faster.
How are beaches affected by erosion?
Ultimately, a beach erodes because the supply of sand to the beach can not keep up with the loss of sand to the sea. Most sand is transported from inland via rivers and streams. The damming of most waterways in the US has thus prevented a major supply of sand from getting to our beaches.
Is Ocean City a natural beach?
Ocean City, Maryland is located on a barrier island… a long strip of land and dune ridges formed by offshore sand and wave action. Barrier islands are vulnerable to storm damage. Normal wave action takes sand from near shore sandbars and washes it back onto the beach.
How deep is the water in Ocean City MD?
Ocean City Coast Guard Station is 0.6 mile inside the inlet on the southwest side of Ocean City. Little Gull Bank, 2.5 miles southeastward of Ocean City Inlet, has a least depth of 18 feet. Great Gull Bank, 5 miles southeastward of the inlet, has a least depth of 19 feet.
In what season is erosion of beaches more prevalent happens more?
fall
Prevailing winds are from the southwest in summer and from the northwest in winter while storms and northeast wind (nor’easters), which have the most potential to cause coastal erosion, occur mostly in the fall.
What factors affect the rate of shoreline erosion?
Factors Affecting the Rate of Erosion The biggest factor affecting coastal erosion is the strength of the waves breaking along the coastline. A wave’s strength is controlled by its fetch and the wind speed. Longer fetches & stronger winds create bigger, more powerful waves that have more erosive power.