Shingle Beach in Hillsburn Nova Scotia Canada

A shingle beach, also known as either a cobble beach or gravel beach, is a commonly narrow beach that is composed of coarse, loose, well-rounded, and waterworn

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

, called ''shingle''. The gravel (shingle) typically consists of smooth, spheroidal to flattened,

pebble A pebble is a clast of rock with a particle size of based on the Udden-Wentworth scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered larger than granules ( in diameter) and smaller than cobbles ( in diameter). A rock made predominant ...

cobbles Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fro ...

, and sometimes small

boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

s, generally in the size range. Shingle beaches typically have a steep slope on both their landward and seaward sides. Shingle beaches form in wave-dominated locations where resistant

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...

cliffs provide gravel-sized rock debris. They are also found in high latitudes and temperate shores where the erosion of

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

glacial deposits provide gravel-size rock fragments. This term is most widely used in Great Britain.Neuendorf, Klaus K.E. Mehl, James P., Jr. Jackson, Julia A., 2011. ''Glossary of Geology'' (5th Edition). American Geosciences Institute. ISBN, 9781680151787Narayana, A. C., 2016. ''Coastal landforms''. in Kennish, M.J., ed., pp. 143-157, ''Encyclopedia of Estuaries''. Springer: Dordrecht, The Netherlands. 9789401788007McGraw-Hill, 2002. ''McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Earth Science'' (2nd edition). The McGraw-Hill Companies, New York. 978-0262518321 While this type of beach is most commonly found in Europe, examples are also found in Bahrain,

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, and a number of other world regions, such as the west coast of New Zealand's

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

, where they are associated with the shingle fans of

braided river A braided river, or braided channel, consists of a network of river channels separated by small, often temporary, islands called braid bars or, in English usage, ''aits'' or ''eyots''. Braided streams tend to occur in rivers with high sediment l ...

s. Though created at shorelines, post-glacial rebound can raise shingle beaches as high as above sea level, as on the

High Coast The High Coast ( sv, Höga Kusten) is a part of the coast of Sweden on the Gulf of Bothnia, in the Ångermanland province of northeast Sweden, centered in the area of the municipalities of Kramfors, Härnösand, Sollefteå and Örnsköldsvik. It i ...

in Sweden. The ecosystems formed by this association of rock and sand allow colonization by a variety of rare and

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

Formation

Shingle beaches are typically steep, because the waves easily flow through the coarse, porous surface of the beach, decreasing the effect of backwash erosion and increasing the formation of sediment into a steeply sloping beach.

Tourism

Shingle beaches are rare, made up of thousands of smooth rocks with varying geological qualities. The ocean naturally smooths the various rocks over time with crashing waves. Shingle beaches are popular for the varying rock types that can be found.

Examples

* Europe ** Alby, Öland,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, England ** Chesil Beach, Dorset, England ** Dungeness, Kent, England ** Étretat, Normandy, France ** Fécamp, Normandy, France **

Herne Bay Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government ...

, Kent, England ** Le Tilleul, Seine-Maritime, Normandy, France ** Nice,

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...

, France ** Osmussaar, Lääne County, Estonia ** Spey Bay,

Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...

, Scotland ** Slapton Sands, Devon, England ** Southsea, Hampshire, England **

The Stade The Stade is a shingle beach in Hastings Old Town, Hastings, East Sussex, England. It has been used for beaching boats for more than a thousand years. It is now home to Europe's largest fleet of beach-launched fishing boats. The word '' stad ...

, England ** Sõrve Pensula, Estonia **

Yport Yport () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. The residents are known as Yportais or Yportaises. Location Yport is located on the D104 road, about north of Le Havre, on the coast of the Engl ...

, Normandy, France ** Zlatni Rat, Bol, Croatia **

Zrće Zrće (, ) is a long pebble beach on the Adriatic island of Pag and is located on the Dalmatian coast. Zrće is located near the town of Novalja and the area of Gajac, about from the town's center. It is one of over 100 Blue Flag beaches in Croa ...

Novalja Novalja () is a town in the north of the island of Pag in the Croatian part of Adriatic Sea. In recent times, Novalja has become famous because of the Zrće Beach. History The earliest settlers on the island were an Illyrian tribe that came to ...

, Gajac, Croatia ** Jaz Beach, Budva, Montenegro * Asia **

Hawar Islands , native_name_link = Arabic language , native_name_lang = , sobriquet = , location = Persian Gulf , coordinates = , archipelago = Bahrain , waterbody = Persian Gulf , total_islands = , major_islands ...

, Bahrain **

Konyaaltı Beach Konyaaltı Beach ( tr, Konyaaltı Plajı) is one of the two main beaches of Antalya, the other being Lara Beach. The beach is located on the western side of the city and stretches for 13 km primarily composed of fine pebbles, but also has ...

, Antalya, Turkey ** Bagolatao Beach,

Minalabac Minalabac, officially the Municipality of Minalabac ( bcl, Banwaan kan Minalabac, tl, Bayan ng Minalabac), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 53,981 peop ...

, Camarines Sur, Philippines * North America ** Hillsburn, Nova Scotia, Canada **

Lambert's Cove Beach Lambert's Cove Beach is a well-known beach in the town of West Tisbury on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, United States. The beach is located off Lambert's Cove Road and is situated in a cove off of Vineyard Sound Vineyard So ...

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...

, Massachusetts ** Egypt Beach,

Scituate Scituate is the name of some communities in New England in the United States: *Brunswick, Maine, formerly named Scituate *Scituate, Massachusetts, a New England town **Scituate (CDP), Massachusetts, an area in the town of Scituate *Scituate, Rhode ...

, Massachusetts, United States of America ** Humarock, Scituate, Massachusetts, United States of America ** Short Beach, Oregon, United States of America * Oceania ** Birdling's Flat, Canterbury Region, New Zealand

Formation

Tourism

Examples

See also

References

Further reading