n8 



THE SEA 



Long Branch, New Jersey, the sandy bluffs must be artificially pro- 

 tected against the attacks of the sea, yet in spite of such protec- 

 tion, almost every severe gale does considerable damage. 



Sandy coasts which are low-lying and flat often suffer less from 

 the inroads of the sea than rocky and precipitous ones, especially 

 as they are apt to be lines along which material is accumulating. 

 Even such coasts may, however, be rapidly cut back, as is shown 



FlG. 43. — Coast of Scotland, showing effects of marine erosion. 



in the familiar example of Coney Island, where great damage has 

 been done of late years. When the sea is eating away a sandy 

 shore, the homogeneous material prevents the occurrence of such 

 irregularities of the coast-line as occur in rocky districts. Beside 

 cutting back its shores, the sea continually grinds up the material 

 which is brought into it by the rivers, and that which it obtains by 

 its own wear of the coast. The great blocks on the shore are 

 rolled about in storms, and worn into rounded boulders, which are 

 gradually reduced to smaller and smaller size. All the minerals 

 softer than quartz are rapidly ground into fine particles and swept 



