Herring Cove Barrier Beach EarthCache
Herring Cove Barrier Beach
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This earthcache will give you a unique view of a barrier beach in Herring Cove Provincial Park and how it was founded.
Welcome to Herring Cove Provincial Park, a 1,049 acres provincial park located on Campobello Island, New Brunswick near the Maine border that is best known for its trails, golf course and beautiful sand beach. Here the forces of the past and present meet to produce a beautiful barriers beach. The bedrock of the Quoddy Formation followed by the force of the most recent glacial period represent the forces from the past. But today the force that is currently shaping the beach are the waters of the Bay of Fundy with its longshore drift.
The beach that you are looking at is called a barrier beach that separates Lake Glensevern from the waters of Herring Cove in Bay of Fundy. A barrier beach is constantly changing due to the tides and the currents. The beach and dunes are made up of sand that is either being moved onto the beach (deposition) during calm weather or removed from the beach by storms (erosion). This can happen any time of the year but because more storms happen in the winter, most beach erosion occurs then. When sand is deposited, the barrier beach grows in size and when sand is eroded from the beach, the beach gets smaller. Wind moves grains of sand from the beach to the dunes. The barrier beach and dunes protect the mainland from storms and is often considered land's first lines of defense against the sea.
The story of this beach begins with the last glacial retreat. The last glacial episode in New Brunswick began about 25,000 years ago, when the Laurentide ice sheet moved south overspreading New England and Eastern Canada. During its peak development, this ice sheet flowed east to southeast across the area into the sea. The ice itself was thousands of feet thick, with its massive weight shaping the land as it slowly traveled. Climatic warming forced the Laurentide ice sheet to stop and begin to recede as early as 21,000 years ago. This melting of the ice sheet released more water and gravel then is possible to imagine. Even as the ice margin withdrew, internal flow within the glacier continued to transport its sediment load southward toward the edge of the vast ice sheet. Large quantities of sediment were dumped into the ocean at the edge of the melting ice sheet, and these deposits are now exposed to view because the land rose above sea level. Remnants of the glacial sand and gravel are to be found in the distance on the high banks located in the area of Con Robinson’s Point which is protected by a small bedrock island just off the point., These bluffs are the remnants of an accumulation of glacial sediment called ice contact drift, formed when the prominent layers of sand and gravel were left behind when the glacier melted. As erosion of the bank progresses, new sand and gravel are released to the beach and are subjected to movement by the sea.
These sands and gravels are moved along the coast by the longshore drift. Longshore drift is the net movement of sand along the shoreline. The process occurs naturally and constantly on any shoreline where waves approach the shore obliquely (at an angle other than 90°.) The effect of this is determined by factors such as the direction and fetch (how far the wind blows across the water) of the present wind and, in the long term, of the prevailing wind. Waves striking the shore at an angle as opposed to straight on will cause the wave swash to move up the beach at an angle. The swash moves the sediment particles (typically sand) up the beach at this angle, while the backwash brings them, solely under the influence of gravity, directly down the beach. This has the net effect of gradual movement of the particles along the shore by the use of swash and backwash. Erosion on the beach works concurrently with longshore drift to straighten the overall shape of the beach; by making it conform to the action of the waves so that any particles of sand that are not deposited parallel to the wave action are areas that receive the most pressure from incoming waves and wind. Longshore currents and longshore drift are generally considered to be constructive processes. Unlike storm waves, they are not normally regarded as significant in coastal erosion, though the sedimentary particles have to come from somewhere. They are the continuing processes that nourish the beach and carry sand along the shore to deposit it at the end of the spit so that the spit grows in length and size until it is stopped by the headland.
At the posted coordinates you will find yourself at a viewing platform over looking the barrier beach, in the distance you are looking down the beach toward Con Robinson’s Point. The bluffs that you are looking at are the remains of the Ice Contact Drift that is slowly falling into the ocean. The longshore current coming from the south slowly moves the sands up the beach. Sands at the top of the beach is than blown into the grass covered dunes making them grow while the outlet waters of Lake Glensevern enter Herring Cove just below the platform are carrying the fine sand away again.
Remember this is an earthcache so there is no container just an earth science lesson at an amazing natural feature. To log this cache, you must post a photo of yourself or your hand with your GPS showing the view of the barrier beach in the background. Email me through my profile the type of barrier beach that you are looking at according to the sign describing the beach and estimate its length. Please include the name of the earthcache and the number of people in your group in your email. In your log please take the time to describe what you find special about this beach.
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