Mystery of the Maine Coastline: Why Some Beaches are Bumpy and Others are Smooth!

Imagine the coast of Maine like a giant, super cool art project!

Sometimes, when you're drawing, you have a bumpy canvas, and other times it's perfectly smooth. Well, Maine's coastline is a bit like that! To the west of a city called Portland, the land underneath the sand (we call this bedrock) makes the beaches smooth and sandy. Think of it as a flat foundation for sandcastles!

But head northeast of Portland, and suddenly things get wilder! The bedrock there is all jumbled and bumpy, like a giant's playground made of rocks. Plus, the way rivers drop off sand and tiny pebbles (called sediment) is different in these two places. It's like the rivers are artists, but they use different brushes and colors depending on where they are on the coast!