William J. Neal & James Andrew Graham Cooper 
The World’s Beaches 
A Global Guide to the Science of the Shoreline

Take this book to the beach; it will open up a whole new world. Illustrated throughout with color photographs, maps, and graphics, it explores one of the planet’s most dynamic environments—from tourist beaches to Arctic beaches strewn with ice chunks to steaming hot tropical shores.
The World’s Beaches tells how beaches work, explains why they vary so much, and shows how dramatic changes can occur on them in a matter of hours. It discusses tides, waves, and wind; the patterns of dunes, washover fans, and wrack lines; and the shape of berms, bars, shell lags, cusps, ripples, and blisters. What is the world’s longest beach? Why do some beaches sing when you walk on them? Why do some have dark rings on their surface and tiny holes scattered far and wide? This fascinating, comprehensive guide also considers the future of beaches, and explains how extensively people have affected them—from coastal engineering to pollution, oil spills, and rising sea levels.

Table of Content

Dedication Page (Santa Aguila Foundation)


PREFACE

(ACKNOWLEDGMENTS)


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

LIST OF TABLES


Part I: THE GLOBAL CHARACTER OF BEACHES


Chapter 1: A WORLD OF BEACHES

Beaches: Crossroads of History

Beaches: Avenues of Commerce

Beaches: Nature’s Most Dynamic Environment

Beaches: Varied Materials

Beaches: Obstacle Courses

Beaches: To Be or Not To Be

Beaches: Comber’s Delight or Nature’s Trash Collector?

Beaches: A Natural Laboratory


Chapter 2: BEACHES OF THE WORLD

What is a Beach?

Recipe for Making a Beach

Classification of Coasts and Beaches

Classifications and a Global Model

Beach Sediments and the Plate Tectonic Setting

Beaches as Landforms

Climate and Types of Coasts

We Stand on Their Shoulders


Chapter 3: OF WHAT ARE BEACHES MADE: SEDIMENTS

Beach Sediments

Grain Size, Sorting and Shape

Grain Composition

Terrigenous Sediments

Heavy Minerals

Carbonate Sediments

Other Beach Materials


Chapter 4: HOW BEACHES WORK: WAVES, CURRENTS, TIDES AND WIND

The Most Dynamic Place on Earth

Waves

Wave Energy

Wave Types

Breakers

Wave Refraction, Diffraction and Reflection

Currents (Alongshore; Onshore; Offshore)

Wave-Current-Sediment Interaction

Tsunamis

Tides

Tides and Beach Groundwater

Other Water Level Changes

Surges

El Niño

Wind

The Global Picture


Chapter 5: THE FORM OF THE BEACH: CRABS-EYE AND BIRDS-EYE VIEWS

Beach Profiles: The Crab’s Eye View

Profile Changes

Beach Plans: The Bird’s Eye View

Berms and Cusps

Washover Fans

Offshore Bars



Part II: HOW TO READ A BEACH


Chapter 6: THE BEACH SURFACE UP-CLOSE: IMPRINTS OF TIDES, CURRENTS, AND WAVES

Near-Shore, Beach, and Tidal Flat Features

Ripple Marks

Modified Ripple Marks

Swash and Backwash Features

Other Surface Features


Chapter 7: ESCAPE FROM WITHIN: AIR AND WATER IN THE BEACH

Knee Deep in Sand: Airy Beaches

Air Escape Structures

Watery Beaches and Water Escape Structures


Chapter 8: WHICH EVER WAY THE WIND BLOWS: REWORKING THE BEACH SURFACE

Wind on Wet Sand and Mud

Wet-to-Dry Transition Structures

Wind on Dry Sediment

Dunes and Dune Structures

Dune Plants: Surviving in a Desert


Chapter 9: BEACH CREATURES: TRACKS, TRAILS, AND TRACES

Beach Animals from Micro to Macro

Macrofaunal Clues

Molluscs (clams and snails)

Crustaceans

Chelicerata

Polychaetes

Other Invertebrate Animals

Vetebrates

Evidence of the Habitat Role of Animals


Chapter 10: CARBONATE BEACHES: SEA SHELLS AND THE STORIES THEY TELL

Carbonate Shells, Skeletons, and Secretions

Other Carbonate Sediments

Non-Calcareous Plant and Animal Remains

Shell Abundance

Where do Seashells Come From?

The Significance of Broken Seashells

Shell Rounding

Orientation of Shells on the Beach

Secondary Shell Color

Shell Collecting: An Environmental Afterthought


Chapter 11: DIGGING THE BEACH: INTO THE THIRD DIMENSION

Bedding

Black Sands and Cross Bedding

Burrows and Bioturbation


Part III: THE GLOBAL THREAT TO BEACHES


Chapter 12: BEACHES AND PEOPLE

Coastal Engineering

Hard Stabilization

Soft Stabilization

Other Damaging Activities

Water Pollution

Oil Spills

The Environmental Truths About Beaches


Chapter 13: EPILOGUE

The Urbanized Beach: From Middens to the Maelstrom of Development


GLOSSARY

REFERENCES

About the author

Orrin H. Pilkey is the James B. Duke Professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences and Director Emeritus of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Duke University. He is the author of A Celebration of the World’s Barrier Islands, among other books. William J. Neal is Emeritus Professor of Geology at Grand Valley State University and coauthor, with Orrin Pilkey, of How to Read a North Carolina Beach: Bubble Holes, Barking Sands, and Rippled Runnels. Joseph T. Kelley is a Professor of Marine Geology at the University of Maine and Chair of the Earth Science Department. He is a co-author with Orrin Pilkey and William Neal of Atlantic Coast Beaches. Andrew Cooper is Professor of Coastal Studies and head of Coastal Research in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland.