This 20-minute video was created at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego in 1965. You could consider this film a classic and remains to be a great explanation of the beach processes. While watching the video, respond to the questions below.

QUESTIONS

Answer the following questions. Submit a MS Word document or *.pdf file with your responses to the assignment dropbox. All answers should be in your own words (do not copy and paste definitions). Answer each question in at least one complete sentence; some answers may require more explanation than others. Each question is worth 1 point.

1. Why is the beach referred to as a “river of sand”?
2. What are some of the types of sediments that make up beaches around the world?
3. What are the two main minerals that make up the sand on a sandy beach in California?
4. What sized sediments (e.g. boulders, gravel, sand, clay, silt, and mud) abundantly transported by rivers and streams typically accumulate on the beach?
5. What sized sediments transported by rivers, streams, and waves are typically carried out to sea?
6. What two scientific questions guide our study of beaches?
7. What causes solid rock to break down into smaller particles?
8. How does the rock debris get to the ocean?
9. What happens to the rock debris along the way from the mountains to the ocean?
10. What happens to sand castles built below the high tide line?
11. What happens to sand grains when a wave washes up on a beach?
12. Define the term ‘beach face.’
13. Define the term ‘surf zone.’
14. How does the beach face change from winter to summer?
15. What is one possible reason why the beach face changes from winter to summer?
16. What is the effect of small summer (low-energy) waves on the beach face?
17. What is the effect of large winter (high-energy) waves on the beach face?
18. How does the beach profile in winter differ from a beach profile in summer?
19. What are sand bars?
20. What do red markers along the shore indicate about the motions of sand along the beach face?
21. What does dye indicate about the motions of water inside the breaking waves and outside the breaking waves?
22. What is the name of the current caused by waves striking the beach at an angle?
23. What does the current do to the sand in the surf zone?
24. What are the two motions of sand along a beach?
25. Fill in the blank: The movement of sand back and forth and down the coast is called _____. Note: You do not need to write a complete sentence for this question.
26. What are groins?
27. How does the presence of groins provide evidence of longshore transport?
28. How is the Santa Barbara harbor kept free of excessive beach sand?
29. How does the breakwater at Santa Barbara interfere with the river of sand?
30. What is the solution to the “spit” problem at Santa Barbara?
31. What is a submarine canyon?
32. What is the effect of a submarine canyon on the river of sand?
33. Where does the sand on a beach eventually go?
34. What happens when you build a dam on a river the supplies sand to a beach?
35. If the dam were not dredged, what would happen to the reservoir and what would happen to the downstream beach?
36. Why does the sand beach terminate 120 miles down the coast from Santa Monica?
37. What happens when humans interfere with natural systems?
38. In Florida, where might the sand be coming from and where might it be going?
39. On the Gulf Coast of Florida, does the sand move north or south along the coast? Why?
40. On the Atlantic Coast of Florida, does the sand move north or south along the coast? Why?