Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Rocky or Sandy

Why are some shore lines rocky and others have sandy beaches ? 

66 comments:

Unknown said...

The sand at the beaches arrived there by the water picking it up when it comes it and dropping it when the water recedes.

Maddy C. said...

Beaches with just sand will have less powerful waves, so the the largest sediment that will be deposited will be grains of sand. - wiki answers

cameron s said...

Wave action is the culprit

If a headland is being eroded, it will create a rocky beach
Also more powerful waves will deposit larger sediment, so some otherwise beaches will have rocks on the beach, and those rocks will be closest to the water, because heavier sediments will be deposited first, because the wave will lose energy as they slow down

beaches with just sand will have less powerful waves, so the the largest sediment that will be deposited will be grains of sand

Tidal flats have even less powerful waves, in fact there will be next to no waves there and the the largest sediment will be silt and mud

Of course, some beaches are artificial and all the sand is brought to them from elsewhere, or are naturally occurring beaches that are eroding too fast and much of that sand is also brought in from somewhere else and these beaches are often in overdeveloped areas.
Answer taken from answers.yahoo.com User name Punk Rock and Minerals.wiki

Dawson,G said...

it deals with the water and the waves

Aja A. said...

Beaches with strong waves bring in more rocks and beaches with less powerful waves have less rocks.

Shane.D said...

The sand at the beaches arrived there by the water picking it up when it comes it and dropping it when the water recedes.

Jordan M said...

If a headland is being eroded, it will create a rocky beach
Also more powerful waves will deposit larger sediment, so some otherwise beaches will have rocks on the beach, and those rocks will be closest to the water, because heavier sediments will be deposited first, because the wave will lose energy as they slow down

beaches with just sand will have less powerful waves, so the the largest sediment that will be deposited will be grains of sand

Tidal flats have even less powerful waves, in fact there will be next to no waves there and the the largest sediment will be silt and mud

Of course, some beaches are artificial and all the sand is brought to them from elsewhere, or are naturally occurring beaches that are eroding too fast and much of that sand is also brought in from somewhere else and these beaches are often in overdeveloped areas.
From Answers.com

Garrett H said...

because older beaches the rock is worn down into sand and the sand was washed in from the ocean. Younger beaches the rock has not worn down yet so and the ocean has not washed as much sand in so its more rocky.

Dominique G. and Bryn W. said...

An answer to this question could be erosion, wind, animals, anything. Erosion and wind-moving the sand and rocks to the shore. Animals can move the rocks when they walk or crawl. Water can move rocks and sand, too. If the water is strong enough, it can move rocks with the waves, and when it hits big rocks, it can break the rocks and make smaller rocks.

Timmy Light said...

it washes up on to the shoreline and when the water goes back everything stays there until the water comes back.

AlexisP said...

Rocky shorelines are composed of solid bedrock with very little sediment. They are often exposed to tremendous forces of waves and currents.Due to their bedrock composition, they are not prone to erosion in human time scales. Rather, change on rocky shorelines occurs in geologic time, over thousands or millions of years. Rocky shorelines provide habitat to many marine organisms that have adapted to life in this harsh environment.
(Credit to : CRD Capital Regional District)

Christian T said...

It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones. The particles comprising the beach are occasionally biological in origin, such as mollusc shells or coralline algae.

Connor.R said...

it depends on the land

Aaran H. said...

Older beaches have warn down rocks that are sand and new beaches have big rocks.

Austin H said...



Some of the seas always have waves and push rocks up to the land. Over the years and some of thee seas have less rocks then others. Usually oceans down south its not normal to see rocks. Usually up north you will see rocks on the shore line.

SMITTY (EVAN) said...

because of runoff

Max H said...

because some beaches bring up rock from under the water and leave it on the shore

AlexisD said...

It depends on whether the beach had more rocks in the first place or whether there aren't many rocks there.

catie riley said...

perssonaly i think that some beaches have rocks because some parts of the ocean are rockier than others and deeper so some beaches arn't as deep as the others.

EmilyB said...

Beaches with strong waves bring in more rocks and beaches with less powerful waves have less rocks.

ALice M. said...

Some shorelines are rocky and some are sandy, this is because of the erosion, if it is a rocky shore, that means the water erosion hasn't broken up the rocks, if it a sandy shore, that means the erosion has broken down the rocks a lot.

Anonymous said...

it all dependes on how many glaciers and or what is under the sand.

Carly M. said...

Some shore lines are rocky and others have sandy beaches because the waves are stronger with the shore lines that have sandy beaches.

Katie L. said...

More powerful waves will deposit larger sediment, so some otherwise beaches will have rocks on the beach, and those rocks will be closest to the water, because heavier sediments will be deposited first, because the wave will lose energy as they slow down

Anonymous said...

it's all on it's history

Jasmine B said...

some are sandy because they have been broke down A LOT over time, the others are more rocky because they're probably newer and haven't been broken down as much.also the further down south you go, people say you less likely to see rocks on the shoreline, and the further north you go, the more rocks you should see.

Aasyhia said...

I think it is because the sandy beach had more time to break up then rocky beaches

katelin k said...

i think that some beaches are more rockier than others because the ocean pulls in rocks when the ocean has high tides

Emily B. said...

The seas carry rocks and deposit them on the shores over time they erode and some seas have more rocks than others.

Jada M. said...

because of runoff

Cj W. said...

because older beaches the rock is worn down into sand and the sand was washed in from the ocean

Younger beaches the rock has not worn down yet so and the ocean has not washed as much sand in so its more rocky

Lauren S. said...

Because the sea carries the rocks and then sometimes they stay on the shore line and other times it does not stay on the shore line it all depends on the the tide if it is low tide or high tide.... It also depends on how big or little the rocks are.....

Kevin S said...

some shorelines are rocky because there hasnt been enough erosion to erode the rocks to a fine sand and the sandy beaches are a lot older

Maddy P. said...

Some shore lines are rocky because the tides of the waters carry the rocks from other places in the ocean to the shore. Other beaches however are sandy because the ground under the water in the ocean is older, so all that is left is sand, so it brings the sand from the ground moves to the beach over time with the tides.

joe w said...

because the rockey beaches are newer

Zachk said...

I think that if they are rocky that they are younger because the rocks haven't had a chance to break down into sand yet. If they are sandy I think it may be because they are older and the what was once rocks, has had a chance to break down into sand.

katalinaD said...

because of the thing what happened is called runoff and sometimes if the storm or wind or erosion is not powerful enough it could leave some rocks behind.

Journey B. said...

Powerful waves drag in more rocks, so that means some areas have more rocks. Strong waves are usually around rocky surfaces, and more rocks are deposited.

Matt C said...

rocky ones are younger. sandy ones are older

Matt C said...

k

Gia L said...

Some beaches have sand because the water has eroded the rocks more. Some beaches have rocks because the rocks haven't been eroded as much as the sand.

Matt C said...

also the stronger the waves the rockier it is

Kaylee C. said...

Some beaches are sandy because they have been worn over time. Some beaches are rocky because they are not worn down as much as the sandy beaches. The waves bring up the rocks onto the beaches.

Owen R !! said...

Because of time the older beaches are worn down.

ConnorB said...

Some beaches are covered in rocks and some beaches are covered in sand because it depends what washes up on the beach. Beaches covered in sand, the water probably has a stronger current that breaks down the rocks to a smaller form, beaches with rocks would be the opposite.

Shane K said...

Some are rocky because rocks are pushed up to shore by waves and they're younger, the older ones are sandy because rocks smash other rocks causeing them to brake down into sand.

chanced said...

The sand at the beaches arrived there by the water picking it up when it comes it and dropping it when the water recedes.

david vincent said...

B/c there might be more erosion in one area than in the other.

BruceB said...

the waves push sand up and people walking on it packs it down

Morgan S said...

because thay have had more things washed up from the water.

adam p said...

Beaches with just sand will have less powerful waves so the the largest sediment that will be deposited will be grains of sand.

jenn w said...

SOME ARE ROCKY BECAUSE THE OCEAN OR STRONG WAVE PUSH THEM UP ON SHORE.THE REASON IT ALL SANDY IS BECAUSE THE ROCKS ARE ALL BROKEN DOWN SO THEY ARE SO TINY YOU CAN NOT SEE THEM

Zoe D said...

It's sometimes about location. When waves are more powerful they carry in rocks so that they sit on the shore and waves with less power keep the sandy beaches because they can't carry in the rocks.

Hayley G said...

They ones that are rocky are rocky because the water has brought the rocks in from the bottom of the ocean! they ones that are sandy are because they didnt get rocks from the oceann!

Mara C. said...

Some beaches are rocky because some rocks and shells were pushed up to the shore and the longer they're there the faster they turn in to sand.The rocky beaches had had cliffs that had broken off and fallen on to the beaches.

Damian P said...

the sandy beaches are older so they are more broken down than the rocky beaches because they are younger and not so broken down

Emily H said...

Beaches with just sand will have less powerful waves, so the the largest sediment that will be deposited will be grains of sand. - wiki answers

Sheila A said...

Some shore lines are covered in sand because it washes up on the beach and is worn down from old rocks. Some shores are rocky because they are not worn down as much as sandy beaches are.

Jenny C said...

If a headland is being eroded, it will create a rocky beach
Also more powerful waves will deposit larger sediment, so some otherwise beaches will have rocks on the beach, and those rocks will be closest to the water, because heavier sediments will be deposited first, because the wave will lose energy as they slow down beaches with just sand will have less powerful waves, so the the largest sediment that will be deposited will be grains of sand.Tidal flats have even less powerful waves, in fact there will be next to no waves there and the the largest sediment will be silt and mud.
my sorce wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_are_some_beaches_sandy_and_some_rocky

Skyler D. said...

Some beaches are more sandy than others because they've been there longer so rocks can boil down to pebbles and then to sand. And others are more rocky because they haven't been there as long.

Anonymous said...

The rocky beaches get their rocks because of the rocks that are underwater were pushed to shore because of the force from the waves so they were shoved ashore.

The Sandy shores are formed by all of the sediments and the smashed rocks and the shells and sand. The waves might not be powerful enough to move rocks up on the shore and that type of stuff so the shores there are just smooth sand.

Mia W said...

Srry this is mia white

Whitney R said...

It is like that because some beaches are near woods which have animals and different living things that could have moved them there. It could also be like that because things have been washed up onto the beach. The other beach with the sand is just because it is on a place that has a clean area kind of thing that has a clean enviorment near it.

Kelsey S. :P said...

Because the rocks haven't completely broken down yet.

Lauryn R said...

The rocks haven't broke down all the way yet.

Colby W said...

Rocky Beaches are young beaches and the rocks have not broken down from weathering yet..