page_title: Flat coast
section_title: Beach losses and gains
hierarchical_section_title: Flat coast / Beach losses and gains
caption_attribution_description: Beach Erosion caused by Hurricane Noel at Boynton Beach FL, City Beach.
context_page_description: At a flat coast or flat shoreline, the land descends gradually into the sea. Flat coasts can be formed either as a result of the sea advancing into gently-sloping terrain or through the abrasion of loose rock. They may be basically divided into two parallel strips: the shoreface and the beach.
  Flat coasts consist of loose material such as sand and gravel. Wind transports finer grains of sand inland over the dunes. The sea washes pebbles and sand away from the coast and dumps it at other locations.
context_section_description: Beaches are usually heavily eroded during storm surges and the beach profile steepened, whereas normal wave action on flat coasts tends to raise the beach. Not infrequently a whole series of parallel berms is formed, one behind the other. There is a consequent gradual increase in height with the result that, over time, the shoreline advances seawards. A striking example of land-forming system of berms is Skagen Odde on the northern tip of Vendsyssel in the extreme north of Denmark. This headland is still growing today as more berms are added.
  Coastal defences against erosion are groynes, stone walls, or tetrapods of concrete, which act as breakwaters. The first plants to colonise the dunes include sea buckthorn or beach grass which prevent wind erosion.
caption: Beach losses after a hurricane
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