Synonyms
Coarse clast beaches; Gravel beaches; Storm beaches
Definition
Boulder beaches occur along many of the world’s coasts. Their presence and formation is a function of sediment availability and wave energy. Both storm waves and tsunami may be responsible for deposition of boulder beaches but differentiating which of the two may have been responsible, principally, at any one location can be difficult (Nott, 2004). It is common for boulder beaches to display sorting both alongshore but more often perpendicular to the shore with coarser clasts closer to the intertidal zone and progressively fining with distance landward (Figure 1). The shape of clasts varies depending upon the nature of the bedrock from which the clasts were derived and also the depositional processes. Joint spacing in the source bedrock will often limit clast size. Lithology along with the history of transportation and reworking will influence the degree of abrasion and eventual clast shape. Clasts that have...
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Bibliography
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Nott, J. (2011). Boulder Beaches. In: Hopley, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2639-2_192
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