What constitutes the sand found on the beaches of Barbados?

Sediment Sources

The sediment found on the beaches of Barbados is typical of most Caribbean beaches derived from bio-erosion and grazing of reef systems located within the nearshore. These processes are illustrated in the figure below.

Sediment Generation Processes

Source: A Brief Analysis of Sediment on the Beaches of Barbados(Risk M. 2004)

Glossary of Terms

Littoral Budget

The sediment budget of the beach consisting of sources and sinks.

Sediment Transport

The main agencies by which sedimentary materials are moved are: gravity (gravity transport); running water (rivers and streams); ice (glaciers); wind; the sea (currents and longshore drift). Running water and wind are the most widespread transporting agents. In both cases, three mechanisms operate, although the particle size of the transported material involved is very different, owing to the differences in density and viscosity of air and water. The three processes are: rolling or traction, in which the particle moves along the bed but is too heavy to be lifted from it; saltation; and suspension, in which particles remain permanently above the bed, sustained there by the turbulent flow of the air or water.

Zooxanthellae

Unicellular, symbiotic algae living within coral polyps that produce food for their hosts by photosynthesis and help efficiently recycle low-levels of nutrients.

Photomosaic

An assemblage of photographs, each of which shows part of a region, put together in such a way that each point in the region appears once and only once in the assemblage, and scale variation is minimised.

Continental Shelf

The zone bordering a continent extending from the line of permanent immersion to the depth, usually about 100 m to 200 m, where there is a marked or rather steep descent toward the great depths of the ocean.

The region of the oceanic bottom that extends outward from the shoreline, with an average slope of less than 1:100, to a line where the gradient begins to exceed 1:40 (the continental slope).

Shoreline Management

The development of strategic, long-term and sustainable coastal defence and land-use policy within a sediment cell.

Search form

You are here

What constitutes the sand found on the beaches of Barbados?