Why hasn't the ocean flood the sand beaches?

Question

Seems the beaches whould shift or change and a flood of water would rush in.
I'm not referring to Tsunami/earthquake but to changes like cave ins or just daily shifting of sand. Has this ever been documented in all history?

Answer 1

The general reason is that the waves are continually depositing more sand on the beaches. Some of it erodes and more sand is washed ashore.

Answer 2

Some times beach front is lost.
Galveston, TX. is a prime example.
The effects of hurricanes over the years have eroded some sections of beach to the extent that there is no longer any beach as it once was.
They had built a seawall on the South side after the 1900 disaster. Today, the Gulf water reaches to that wall, having washed away the past existing beach front.
There are beach areas where hurricanes have washed away so much beach, where homes had existed, the homes cannot be rebuilt. The land is under water.

Answer 3

First you have to realize the shear volume of the ocean is so vast that even if something were to fall into it that weighed 100 tons, it would be a small splash in that vastness.

The total mass of the hydrosphere is about 1.4 × 1021 kilograms, which is about 0.023% of the Earth's total mass. Less than 2% is freshwater, the rest is saltwater, mostly in the ocean.

For example, take a grain of salt and drop it in your bath tub. Did you see a difference?

Next, you have to understand that beaches are erouding all around you everyday. People are continually seeing the effects of errosion, so your premise is not to far off. There have been significant efforts to slow the effects of erroison down, but beaches are continually shifting.


I hope that helps you understand wht vastness of the forces involved.

Answer 4

Our shores change constantly. Sand and silk is removed from one area and deposited in another, depending on currents, wind and waves and yes, it's documented.