Back-beach Beds (the berm)

The back-beach, or berm, is the high part of the beach which lies beyond the reach of the waves during normal tides and fair weather. It is a level of sand which when preserved in the geologic record is represented by nearly horizontal bedding.

Back-beach beds feed directly into the windward beds of a dune, which can make catergorization very difficult. In the geologic record, the distinction between the two types of beds can sometimes be made on the basis of their relationship to other types of deposits. Back-beach beds will often be found resting on seaward inclined foreshore beach beds, while windward beds characteristically truncate or feed into landward dipping dune foresets.