One of a series of regularly spaced crescent-shaped structures forming local relief along a beach. The horns or ‘headlands’ of the cusp are composed of coarse sand or gravel, and point seaward down the beach. The intervening troughs or ‘bays’ are made up of finer sand. Beach cusps are usually several centimetres high, although larger examples have been described. The size and spacing of cusps appears to be related to the nature of the waves breaking on the beach.