Why are there gravel beaches? In thousands of years of waves crashing on the beach shouldn’t all the gravel have become sand?

Question

Why are there gravel beaches? In thousands of years of waves crashing on the beach shouldn’t all the gravel have become sand?

In: 6381

Answer 1

I haven’t seen this mentioned yet, but time of year definitely plays a role as well. Generally, winter storms are more energetic, and they carry smaller grains of sand out to sea a little bit and deposit them on a sand bar, leaving the heavier gravel and rocks behind. Time of year corresponds to storm wave energy. You can see how the shape of the beach changes in the linked profile.

[beach profile](https://opentextbc.ca/geology/wp-content/uploads/sites/110/2016/07/differences-between-summer-and-winter-on-beaches.png)