A beach is a loose-particle-filled landform next to a body of water. A beach’s particles are usually formed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, and other similar materials, or biological sources, such as mollusk shells or coralline algae. Depending on the local wave activity and weather, sediments settle in various densities and structures, resulting in a variety of textures, colors, gradients, and layers of material.

Although some beaches occur in freshwater, the majority of beaches are found around coastlines, where wave and current activity deposits and reworks sediments. Natural processes such as wave action and strong weather events cause erosion and change in beach geologies. Beaches can be supported by coastal dunes that provide shelter and regeneration for the beach when wind conditions are favorable. However, as a result of climate change, these natural forces have become more severe, irreversibly changing beaches at a quick rate. According to some projections, climate change-driven sea-level rise would cause up to half of the world’s sandy beaches to vanish by 2100.

About a third of the world’s coastline is made up of sandy beaches. These beaches are popular for recreation, and they play a significant economic and cultural role in the local economy, frequently boosting tourism. Some beaches include man-made infrastructure, such as lifeguard stations, changing rooms, showers, shacks, and bars, to support these users. They may also have adjacent accommodations (such as resorts, campgrounds, hotels, and restaurants) as well as homes for both permanent and seasonal occupants.

Beaches across the world have been dramatically altered by human forces: direct effects include poor construction practices on dunes and coasts, while indirect human impacts include water pollution, plastic pollution, and coastal erosion due to sea-level rise and climate change. Some coastal management methods are intended to maintain or restore natural beach processes, while others, such as beach nourishment, are used to actively repair beaches.

Undeveloped or unknown beaches are beaches that have not been developed for tourism or pleasure. Preserved beaches are significant biomes that play vital roles in aquatic or marine biodiversity, such as sea turtle breeding grounds or seabird or penguin nesting places. Beaches and their accompanying dunes are critical for protecting inland ecosystems and human infrastructure from harsh storms.

Although the term “beach” is most usually associated with the seaside, beaches may also be found beside lakes and major rivers.

The term “beach” can be used to describe:

Small systems where waves and currents transport rock material onshore, offshore, or alongshore; or geological units of significant magnitude.

The smaller geological units are addressed separately under bars, whereas the bigger geological units are detailed in-depth below.

A beach has numerous prominent features that relate to the processes that generate and shape it. The beach berm is the section of the beach that is generally above water (depending on the tide) and is more or less actively impacted by the waves at some point in the tide. The berm is the material that makes up the active coastline. The berm has a crest (top) and a face, which is the slope that leads down from the crest to the water. There may be a depression at the very bottom of the face and one or more lengthy shore bars further out to sea: slightly elevated, submerged embankments produced when the waves first begin to break.

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