Long shore drift is the movement of sand and sediment along a beach in a particular direction due to the movement of swash (a turbulent layer of water that washes up on the beach after an incoming wave has broken - Wikipedia), backwash carrying the sand in a "saw tooth" motion. At Muriwai beach the wind direction comes from the SW which means that the L.S.D is moved up the beach in the saw tooth motion, this means that over time most of the sand found at Muriwai beach will be mainly found at the furthest northern end of the beach. How does this process operate during the seasons? During the winter season Long shore drift has a negative impact on the beach because of the rate that the sand supply is being effected due to the increase of wave movement and wind speed being increased. This means that sand is moved much quicker, leaving some areas of a beach like Muriwai with significantly smaller amounts of sand. For example there will be more sand found at the northern point of Muriwai then the southern end of the beach where sand dunes are struggling to form. This means that L.S.D has a negative effect on the dynamic equilibrium of a beach because of its effects to the sand supply. During the summer season this process is dramatically reduced in its rate at moving sand so it has a more positive impact on the beach then it would in winter. Saltation Saltation is formally known as the transportation of particles, in our case sand by fluids such as wind or water. Saltation occurs when loose substances are removed from a surface and carried by wind or water before being brought back to the ground. Due to past research carried out at both Maori Bay and Muriwai Beach it is evident that there is no saltation that occurs at Maori Bay but Muriwai Beach on the other hand has saltation that occurs. Meaning that particles at Muriwai Beach are transported by fluids such as wind and water and as a result of sand being carried this leads to the b