The world's beaches: a global guide to the science of the shoreline

Foreword by the Donor, the Santa Aguila Foundation

The Global Character of Beaches. A World of Beaches. Crossroads of history ; Avenues of commerce ; Nature's most dynamic environment ; Varied materials ; Obstacle courses ; To be or not to be ; Comber's delight or nature's trash collector? ; Beach stuff ; A natural laboratory

Beaches Of The World. What is a beach? ; Recipe for making a beach ; Classification of coasts and beaches ; Classifications and a global model ; Beach sediments and the plate tectonic setting ; Beaches as landforms ; Climate and types of coasts ; The world's longest beach ; We stand on their shoulders ; Societal classification of beaches

Of What Are Beaches Made? : Sediments. Beach sediments ; Terrigenous sediments ; Heavy minerals ; Carbonate sediments ; Other beach materials ; Terrigenous beach minerals ; Beach mining ; Beach rock

How Beaches Work: Waves, Currents, Tides and Wind. The most dynamic place on Earth ; Waves ; Currents (longshore, onshore, offshore) ; Tides ; Other water-level changes ; Wind ; Sea-level rise ; The global picture

The Form of the Beach. Crab's-Eye and Bird's-Eye Views. Beach profiles: the crab's eye view ; Beach plans: the bird's eye view

How to Read a Beach. The Beach Surface Up-Close: Imprints of Tides, Currents, and Waves. Nearshore, beach, and tidal flat features ; Swash and backwash features ; Foam ; Other surface features

Escape from Within: Air and Water in the Beach. Knee deep in sand: airy beaches ; Air escape structures ; Watery beaches and water escape structures ; Whichever Way the Wind Blows: Reworking the Beach Surface. Wind on wet sand and mud ; Wet-to-dry transition structures ; Wind on dry sediment ; Dunes and dune structures ; Sounds of the sand ; Dune plants: surviving in a desert

Fulgurites

Beach Creatures: Tracks, Trails, and Traces. Beach animals from micro to macro ; Macrofaunal clues ; Evidence of the habitat role of animals

Carbonate Beaches: Sea Shells and the Stories they Tell. Carbonate shells, skeletons, and secretions ; Other carbonate-producing organisms ; Other carbonate sediments ; Noncalcareous plant and animal remains ; Shell abundance ; Where do seashells come from? ; The significance of broken seashells ; Shell rounding ; Orientation of shells on the beach ; Secondary shell color ; Shell collecting: an environmental afterthought

Digging the Beach: Into the Third Dimension. Bedding ; Black sands and cross bedding ; Burrows and bioturbation ; Evidence of a retreating beach

The Global Threat to Beaches. Beaches at Risk: Sea-Level Rise and the Human Response. Coastal engineering ; Other damaging activities ; Water pollution ; Oil spills ; A toxic green wave on the beach ; The environmental truths about beaches

The Urbanized Beach: From Middens to the Maelstrom of Development.