The Origin of Beach Ridges and Foredunes and Their Relationships to Sea Level

The origin or genesis of beach ridges (and occasionally fordunes) has been much debated in the literature with multiple evolutionary mechanisms being suggested. A review of these will be presented. Mechanisms include origin via plant growth onto the backshore and aeolian deposition forming foredunes, formation by storm waves, spring tide bar and berm formation with or without so-called aeolian decoration, formation due to sea level changes, and a variety of others.

A major question is how are beach ridges or foredunes related to sea level (if at all), and if the predominant formative mechanism is known, can Holocene sea levels be determined from an analysis of the ridges and their underlying sediments or their stratification. Data collected in Australia, Canada, Brazil and the USA Gulf coast will be presented to demonstrate the origin of “beach ridges”, and their relationship and position relative to sea level.