On Thursday 15 August 2019, ael wrote: > > I was going to comment that a beach has to meet the water at the same > level. That is maybe sort of implied above? As opposed to a cliff or > even wall.
The beach being composed of loose material and being formed by water waves implies the beach and the water level intersect and the slope being limited. > I am not sure that a beach is required to have a "significant" slope. The slope necessarily forms if loose material is being deposited and shaped by waves. As Josef said if the slope is very small the waves will not be the dominating force shaping the coast any more and tidal currents will be the force shaping the area. How steep and how wide the slope is depends on the relationship of tides, waves and grain size of the material. There are of course also borderline cases to and combinations with other coastal land forms like spits, longshore bars etc. There might also be artificial beach nourishment measures that modify the profile. So beaches will not necessarily have a continuous slope everywhere. But a slope on which waves break and water washes up and down with each wave is a defining element of a beach. -- Christoph Hormann http://www.imagico.de/ _______________________________________________ Tagging mailing list Tagging@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging
