Barrier islands and barrier beaches have developed across structurally controlled estuaries and embayments in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The supply of sediments to the littoral zone and the subsequent accumulation of barrier deposits is a result of the reworking, transportation and longshore dispersal of sediments which are moved landward by tidal and wave-induced currents from the adjacent shallow sea floor. The size and stability of the barriers is controlled by the shoreline orientation.