Which coastal process refers to the return flow of water from the shore back to the sea after a wave breaks?

Which coastal process refers to the return flow of water from the shore back to the sea after a wave breaks?

• A. Swash
• B. Backwash
• C. Tide
• D. Rip current

Answer: (B)

When a wave breaks, water rushes up the beach and then gravity pulls water back down toward the sea along the shore. This returning flow is called backwash. It moves water and sediment back toward the ocean, helping to shape the beach in the swash zone. Swash describes the uprush of water up the beach, not the return flow. Tide refers to the regular, longer-term rise and fall of sea level due to gravitational forces, not the immediate after-effect of a single breaking wave. Rip currents are narrow, strong seaward flows through the surf zone, not the general back-and-forth movement of water on the shore.

When a wave breaks, water rushes up the beach and then gravity pulls water back down toward the sea along the shore. This returning flow is called backwash. It moves water and sediment back toward the ocean, helping to shape the beach in the swash zone.

Swash describes the uprush of water up the beach, not the return flow. Tide refers to the regular, longer-term rise and fall of sea level due to gravitational forces, not the immediate after-effect of a single breaking wave. Rip currents are narrow, strong seaward flows through the surf zone, not the general back-and-forth movement of water on the shore.