Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 7-5:
Cliff
erosion varies
from one cliff to
the next.
Eroding beaches
Coastal areas that consist of sandy beaches and dunes are among the easiest landforms for
naturetoerodebecausetheyconsistofsmallparticles.Thenumberofpiecesofsandthatmake
up a beach is beyond comprehension; but as far as mass wasting is concerned, particle sizes
mattermorethanparticlenumbers.Takeanicesandystrandconsistingofseveralgiga-trillions
of sand particles, let a severe storm pound away at it for several hours, and the result may be a
greatly diminished beach.
The implications of this for property owners are severe and have been recognized for some time. A
well-known parable compares a house built on rock to one built on sand. After a storm, the former
remains standing while the latter has been washed away, which indicates that people thousands of
years ago understood the basics of coastal erosion.
That knowledge has not, however, deterred people from building on sand. In the United States the
number of people who live along the coast has soared in recent decades. Part of this is simply due
to general population growth, as a result of which coastal cities have expanded up and down their
respective shorelines. Probablyofgreaterimportance, however,inexplaining theextentofcoastal de-
velopment is the American love affair with the beach, and the growing number of people who possess
the financial wherewithal to purchase vacation or retirement homes by the water. Indeed, the combin-
ation of disposable income plus competitive bidding has served to make coastal real estate among the
highest priced to be found in non-urban settings.
