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Saturday, 17 August 2019

What is Shingle Beach?

When the word “Beach” comes, the first notion comes in mind is sand and water. People do not want to rest upon a thousand uneven stones. But the Shingle Beach is unique as referred to pebble beach or rocky beach.  This beach is armoured with beautiful pebbles and medium sized cobbles. One example of Shingle Beach is located at Torrisdale Bay, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Moreover, many beaches found in north America, United Kingdom, Japan, Bahrain, and many other parts of the world.
New Zealand South Island beach is associated with the shingle fans of braided rivers. The unique ecosystems associated with rock and sand allow colonization by several rare and endangered species. Shingle Beaches are normally higher latitudes, as waves easily flow through the coarse, porous surfaces of the beach. Which in result lessening the effect of backwash erosion and cumulative the formation of sediment into a steeply sloping beach.
However, typically, the stone composition may grade from characteristic sizes ranging from 2 to 200 millimeters in diameter. Normally, people like sandy beaches, as it is more comfortable to walk. On the other side, walk on shingle beach becomes tough for many peoples. Therefore, shingle beaches are more popular among rock collectors for the varying the rock types that can be found on such beaches.
The biggest threat to Shingle Beaches is increasing sea level and stronger waves allowing sea water to move further inland. Shingle Beach does not support any plant growth. The lack of Topsoil is not supported to seeds to root on. Only few shrub plant species sea Kale, lichens, sea campion, and sea beet found in shingle beaches. Lichens, support to small animal species, i.e., Ant, bee and moth tend to be most commonly found in the challenging environment. Some shingle beaches are dominated by only one type of rocks have ridges at different points.
The Black Pebble Beach at Yaquina Head in Oregon is made entirely of basalt. The shingle beaches and sand mixed become imperative to global warming and rising sea levels. They are too good for dissipating wave energy up to 90%. Shingle beaches are predominantly vulnerable to long- term damage from marine oil spills since they capture and hold oil for longer than sandy beaches. Source: CP




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