{{Short description|Part of the seafloor undisturbed by waves}} {{For|the upper portion of the seafloor|Upper shoreface}} [[Image:wavebase.jpg|325px|thumb|right|'''Wave base''' diagram.]] '''Lower shoreface''' refers to the portion of the seafloor, and the sedimentary depositional environment, that lies below the everyday wave base.<ref name="mechanics">{{cite book | title=Water wave mechanics for engineers and scientists | author=R. G. Dean and R. A. Dalrymple | year=1991 | series=Advanced Series on Ocean Engineering | volume=2 | publisher=World Scientific, Singapore | isbn=978-981-02-0420-4 }}</ref>
== Process == The wave base is the maximum depth at which a water wave's passage causes significant water motion.<ref name="mechanics"/>
In this portion of the coastal marine environment, only the larger waves produced during storms have the power to agitate the seafloor.
[[Image:HumXSec.JPG|thumb|300px|left|Hummocky cross-stratification sandstone sedimentary structure, Cretaceous era Book Cliffs formation, Utah.]] Between storms, finer grained sediments accumulate on the seafloor, but during storms those sediments get suspended and moved around, resulting in a sedimentary structure form described as hummocky cross-stratification.<ref name="mechanics"/>
== See also == *Sedimentary structures
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:Physical oceanography Category:Sedimentology Category:Sedimentary structures
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