Swash
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Swash, or forewash in geography, is a turbulent layer of water that washes up on the beach after an incoming wave has broken. The swash action can move beach materials up and down the beach, which res
Swash
Figure 1. Beach classification by Wright and Short (1983) showing dissipative, intermediate, and reflective beaches.
Figure 2. Swash zone and beachface morphology showing terminology and principal processes (Modified from Masselink & Hughes 2003)
Figure 3. Beach cusp morphology. Uprush diverges at the cusp horns and backwash converges in the cusp embayments. (Modified from Masselink & Hughes 2003)
Longshore drift
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Longshore drift from longshore current is a geological process that consists of the transportation of sediments along a coast parallel to the shoreline, which is dependent on the angle of incoming wav
Swash
…the uprush varies with the prevailing wind, whereas the backwash is always perpendicular to the coastline. This asymmetrical motion of swash can cause longshore drift as well as cross-shore sediment transport. The swash zone is the upper part of the beach between backbeach and surf zone, where intense erosion occurs…
Provincetown Spit, at the northern end of Cape Cod, was formed by longshore drift after the end of the last Ice age.
Kaitorete Spit in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand's southern island.
Arcachon Bay in Southwest France.
Timber groyne from Swanage Bay, UK