Cuspate foreland

Cuspate forelands, also known as cuspate barriers or nesses in Britain, are geographical features found on coastlines and lakeshores that are created primarily by longshore drift. Formed by accretion and progradation of sand and shingle, they extend outwards from the shoreline in a triangular shape. Some cuspate forelands may be stabilised by vegetation, while others may migrate down the shoreline. Because some cuspate forelands provide an important habitat for many flora and fauna, effective management is required to reduce the impacts from both human activities and physical factors such as climate change and sea level rise.

The debate involving how cuspate forelands form is ongoing. However, the most widely accepted process of formation involves long shore drift. Where longshore drift occurs in opposite directions, two spits merge into a triangular protrusion along a coastline or lakeshore. Their formation is also dependent on dominant and prevailing winds working in opposite directions. Formation can also occur when waves are diffracted around a barrier.

Cuspate forelands can form both along coastlines and along lakeshores. Those formed along coastlines can be in the lee of an offshore island, along a coastline that has no islands in the vicinity, or at a stream mouth where disposition occurs.

A cuspate foreland can form in a strait or along a coastline that has no islands or shoals in the area. In this case, longshore drift as well as prevailing wind and waves bring sediment together from opposite directions. If there is a large angle between the waves and the shoreline, the sediment converges, accumulates, and forms beach ridges. Over time, a cuspate foreland forms as a result of continued accretion and progradation. An example of this type of cuspate foreland is the one found at Dungeness along the southern coast of Britain. This cuspate foreland has formed as a result of the merging of SW waves from the English Channel, and waves from the east from the Strait of Dover. Another example is the cuspate foreland found between Awatere River and White Bluffs in Marlborough, New Zealand. This foreland has ridges on the eastern and northern sides which face the prominent waves.

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