THE FORMS CARVED AND MOLDED BY WAVES 239 



gradually force the shore current farther from the shore and 

 so lay down a sand selvage to the shore, which is shaped in the 

 form of an arc or crescent and known as a beach (Fig. 259 and 

 Fig. 260). 



FIG. 260. Crescent-shaped beach formed in the lee of a headland. Santa 

 Catalina Island, California (after a photograph by Fairbanks). 



The shingle beach. With heavy storms and an exceptional 

 Teach of the waves, the shore currents are competent to move, not 

 the sand alone, but pebbles, the area of whose broader surface may 

 be as great as the palm of one's hand. Such rock fragments are 

 shaped by the continued wear against their neighbors under the 

 restless breakers, until they have a len- 

 ticular or watch-shaped form (Fig. 261). 

 Such beach pebbles are described as shingle, 

 and they are usually built up into distinct FlG - 261. Cross section 

 ridges upon the shore, which, under the 



fury of the high breakers, may be piled several feet above the level 

 of quiet water (Fig. 262). Such storm beaches have a gentle 



