A sand dune is a small ridge or hill of sand found at the top of a beach, above the reach of the waves.

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Ridges are areas of the beach that are raised. The dips are water-filled troughs called runnels.

Ridge and runnels on Harlech beach, North Wales.

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A bar is created when there is a gap in the coastland with water in it. This could be a bay or a natural hollow in the coastland. The process of longshore drift occurs and this carries material across the front of the bay. Material is pushed up onto beaches at a 45-degree angle when the swash brings it onto the coastline. The backwash takes it back out towards the sea at a right angle to the coast. Through this process, the material is constantly moved along the coastline. The deposited material eventually joins up with the other side of the bay and a strip of deposited material blocks off the water in the bay. The area behind the newly formed bar is known as a lagoon.

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An offshore bar is a raised area of seabed that is found offshore.

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A spit is an extended stretch of beach material that sticks out to sea and is joined to the mainland at one end.

Aerial view of Spurn Point from the mouth of the Humber Estuary

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