In North America, rocky coasts are found in Maine, Nova Scotia and other maritime provinces of Canada, as well as along much of the Pacific Coast. On our field trip to the bluffs, we saw the product of wave erosion combined with other erosional processes along the Lake Ontario shoreline. Storm waves are large and capable of eroding large quantities of sediment from beaches and coastal lands. Some of the sediment eroded during winter storms works its way back to the beach during fair weather in the summer. In large storms, a great deal of sand may be lost from the beach forever.
Hurricanes also cause extensive coastal erosion where they strike.
The low atmospheric pressure in the center of the hurricane actually allows the sea surface to rise. As the eye of the storm moves landward, the elevated sea surface and fierce winds blowing toward shore create storm surge , a rush of water that can flood low lying coastal areas and erode sediments from beaches. Even in the absence of strong storms, waves slowly shift sediment along the shoreline. If waves remove sediment at a rate faster than is being supplied by rivers and headland erosion, beaches will shrink. This problem increases if sea level rises and wave energy reaches farther back on beaches.