Coastal erosion is the wearing away of land by the action of natural forces. On a beach, this is the carrying away of beach material by wave action, tidal currents, littoral currents, or by deflation.
The landward limit of erosion in the dune system caused by storm waves is called the erosion escarpment. At the end of a storm the escarpment may be nearly vertical.
Coastal erosion usually occurs after one event and over a short period of time.
Coastal recession differs from erosion as it is the continuing landward movement of the shoreline over a specified period of time (i.e. years).
Beach scraping does not address long-term erosion (i.e. shoreline recession) and is not seeking to restore or reinstate the original pre-storm dune volumes. Beach scraping will rehabilitate the dune system through restoring only a small percentage of the original sand volumes to assist in the recovery of its form and function.