What is Shingle beach?
[[File:Storm beach connecting Garbh Eilean and Eilean an Tigh - geograph.org.uk - 599496.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Storm beach connecting Garbh Eilean and Eilean an Tigh in the [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[Western Isles]]. The narrow neck of pebbles is covered at spring tides and during storms.]] [[File:Pebbleswithquarzite.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Pebbles on a shingle beach in [[Somerset]], England]] [[File:Waimakariri03 gobeirne.jpg|thumb|250px|View of the [[Waimakariri River]] looking towards the Southern Alps]] A '''shingle beach''' (or '''pebble beach''') is a [[beach]] made of [[pebble]]s, not [[sand]]. The stones may be from {{convert|2|to|200|mm|in|1}} [[diameter]]. These beaches strongly resist [[erosion]] by waves. This beach [[landform]] is quite common in [[Western Europe]], because the pebbles come from the lines of [[flint]] in the [[chalk]]. [[Chesil Bank]] is an example. When the chalk erodes, the tough flint stays as pebbles.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2956600.stm ''UK's rare shingle beaches at risk'', Alex Kirby, BBC News Online, June 3, 2003]</ref> Other examples are found in [[Bahrain]], [[North America]] and in a number of other places. On the east coast of [[New Zealand]]'s [[South Island]], there are mixed shingle and sand fans in the [[braided river]]s. == References == {{Reflist}} {{-}} {{science-stub}} [[Category:Beaches|*]]