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

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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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A bar is a ridge of sand or single that joins two headlands either side of a bay.

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Onshore winds (winds blowing inland from the sea) cause the formation of sand dunes at the back of a beach. Sand is deposited by the wind around an object such as a rock, forming embryo dunes. Over time, vegetation such as marram grass stabilises the sand dunes forming foredunes. As the vegetation around the foredunes decomposes nutrients are released and soil begins to form. A wider range of plants are then able to colonise the dunes.

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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.

Find out more about landforms of coastal deposition.