Pocket beach
Encyclopedia
Headlands and bays
Headlands and bays are two related features of the coastal environment.- Geology and geography :Headlands and bays are often found on the same coastline. A bay is surrounded by land on three sides, whereas a headland is surrounded by water on three sides. Headlands are characterized by high,...
. In an idealized setting, there is very little or no exchange of sediment
Sediment
Sediment is naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of fluids such as wind, water, or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particle itself....
between the pocket beach and the adjacent shorelines.
Pocket beaches can be natural or artificial. Many natural pocket beaches exist throughout the world. Artificial pocket beaches are usually constructed in areas where natural beaches are fairly narrow or absent. Examples of artificial pocket beaches include over 100 such systems on Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, each consisting of several individual pocket beaches; the Fisher Key, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
project constructed on a dredge spoil island originally consisting of cobble dredge material;, and the Fred Howard Park Beach that was constructed offshore of a muddy mangrove shoreline. Additionally, there have been many pocket beaches constructed in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
where resorts have been developed along rocky shorelines with minimal natural beaches.