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What causes beaches to wash away?

The erosive forces of waves, storms, and rising sea levels do not disappear after nourishment takes place. Waves will continue to “chew on” the sand, and eventually it erodes away, moving down the coast and offshore.



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When a beach shrinks or even disappears, it's because coastal erosion removes sand, mud, pebbles, or other sediment along large bodies of water. This could include the saltmarshes in southern Louisiana, sandy strips in the Bay Area of California, and the Great Lakes.

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All coastlines are affected by storms and other natural events that cause erosion; the combination of storm surge at high tide with additional effects from strong waves—conditions commonly associated with landfalling tropical storms—creates the most damaging conditions.

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Fair-weather wind and wave activity will eventually carry the eroded sand back to the beach. Beach recovery takes months or years, though, because the lower energy waves don't carry as much sediment.

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