Beaches,+Spits+and+Salt+marshes

=**Beaches **= A beach is a landform found on the boundary between land and water. Commonly beaches are made of sand or similar small particles of rock (for example gravel, pebbles or cobblestones). These particles may also be made of crushed up shells or coralline algae (a red algae with calcareous deposits contained within the cell walls). Beaches often occur along coasts which experience wave action or strong currents to deposit and rework sediment. ||
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=**Spits **= Spits are deposition landforms found coasts. One end of a spit is connected to the coast while the other extends out into the water. A spit is formed over a long period of time as a result of longshore drift. Longshore drift occurs when waves go up a beach at a different angle to the backwash, resulting in a zig-zag pattern which moves material down the beach. If the beach makes an angle greater than 30° the sediment carried by longshore drift will be deposited in the sea and eventually create a spit. This spit will continue into the sea until a current or other form of water pressure becomes too great for sand to be deposited. If wave refraction occurs on the end of a spit, it will become hooked. It is possible for wave refraction to occur in several directions at once, thus creating a complex spit. ||  The **Dungeness Spit** reaches out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. A salt marsh (also know as a Salting) is a type of marsh that only occurs on the land uncovered by low tides (known as the intertidal zone), and most commonly occur in estuaries and bays. Like other kinds of wetlands, salt marshes are usually considered as wastelands because they are in the intertidal zone. This is (from an environmentalist point of view) very good news because salt marshes almost the most biologically productive habitats in the world, with the exception of tropical rainforests. With every tide comes a fresh layer of nutrients which settle into the roots of the halophytic (meaning salt-tolerant) plants which have settled in the salt marsh. The saltiness of the water in these marshes increases levels of chemical activity, so in the shallower areas algae is prevalent. || Image: http://www.livingwilderness.com/beach/dungeness-spit.html
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 * **Salt Marshes **