An offshore sandbar is a submerged or partly exposed ridge of sand or coarse sediment that is built by waves offshore from a beach. The swirling turbulence of waves breaking off a beach excavates a trough in the sandy bottom. Some of this sand is carried forward onto the beach and the rest is deposited on the offshore flank of the trough . Offshore bars are typically formed by the action of waves and currents on the coastline, and they can shift and change in size and shape over time .
Offshore bars are a common feature of the surf zone of sandy coasts subject to energetic wave action. Their occurrence is related to the shoreface slope, which should be smaller than about 1/30 . Sandbars are most pronounced in the heavy surf of the stormy season; they also migrate shoreward in gentle seas and seaward in high seas. Thus, although sandbars have greatest relief in the stormy season, they are more submerged . Bay-mouth bars may extend partially or entirely across the mouth of a bay; bay-head bars occur at the heads of bays, a short distance from shore . Barrier bars or beaches are exposed sandbars that may have formed during the period of high-water level of a storm or during the high-tide season. During a period of lower mean sea level, they become emergent and are built up by swash and wind-carried sand; this causes them to remain exposed. Barrier bars are separated from beaches by shallow lagoons and cut the beach off from the open sea. They occur offshore from coastal plains except where the coasts are rocky; where the tidal fluctuation is great (more than 2 1/2 metres [8 feet]); or where there is little wave activity or sand. Barrier bars are common along low coasts, as off the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, where they parallel straight beaches. They often are cut by tidal inlets and are connected by underwater tidal deltas; they convert irregular shorelines to nearly straight ones .
In conclusion, offshore sandbars are submerged or partly exposed ridges of sand or coarse sediment that are built by waves offshore from a beach. They are typically formed by the action of waves and currents on the coastline, and they can shift and change in size and shape over time. Offshore bars are a common feature of the surf zone of sandy coasts subject to energetic wave action. Their occurrence is related to the shoreface slope, which should be smaller than about 1/30. Sandbars are most pronounced in the heavy surf of the stormy season; they also migrate shoreward in gentle seas and seaward in high seas. Barrier bars or beaches are exposed sandbars that may have formed during the period of high-water level of a storm or during the high-tide season. They occur offshore from coastal plains except where the coasts are rocky.
Offshore Sand Bar image
