Watershed Geology Lab
Coastal Retreat (erosion and landslides) along southern Monterey Bay
The coastline of Southern Monterey Bay, between the Salinas Lagoon and Sand City is a tall, weak seacliff composed of young, easily eroded sand dune deposits. Large storm waves occasionally combine with high tides to cause sporadic coastal retreat. In general, wave energy undercuts the base of the sea cliff. The erosion causes a wide range of landslide processes in the seacliff, which then bring new sand to the beach. With each storm, terrestrial habitat is converted to near-shore marine, and the coastline incrementally moves inland.
Ongoing research is documenting the rates of coastal retreat at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. The results are of importance to land-use planners, engineers, and resource managers interested in the dynamics of the physical habitats along the coast. The coastline that includes Fort Ord Dunes State Park is home to rare habitat and endangered species. Coastal retreat rates are currently believed to be nearly 2 m/yr at the Park, so rare coastal habitat is rapidly disappearing.
This page will be linked to a variety of "observations and events " of coastal erosion and retreat that help us understand the processes occurring at scales of from seconds to thousands of years.
Observations
1) Storm of January 3-4, 2008 (D. Smith_080106)
2) Storm of February 24, 2008 (D. Smith_080124)
Surveys
1) Geomorphic Systems class beach survey of November 7, 2008 (D. Smith_081107)
Publications
Reports
Other
Web page with information about select seawalls in southern Monterey Bay
