Coastal transportation

• Traction: The rolling of coarse sediment along the sea bed that is too heavy to be picked up and carried by the sea.
• Saltation: Sediment 'bounced' along the seabed, light enough to be picked up or dislodged but too heavy to remain within the flow of water.
• Suspension: Smaller (lighter) sediment picked up and carried within the flow of water.
• Solution: Chemicals dissolved in the water, transported and precipitated elsewhere. In high energy environments, larger particles will be able to be transported, whereas in low energy environments, only the finest particles will be transported.
• Longshore drift: - Material is carried up the beach at an angle by waves.

  - Backwash pulls material down the beach at right angles to the shore.

  - Results in a zig zag movement of sediment up and down the beach.
• Why is longshore drift important? - It is responsible for moving vast amounts of sediment along the coastline and eventually out to sea.
• Coastal deposition: - Occurs when the velocity of water falls below a critical value for a particular size of particle and can no longer be transported.