Bartlett’s Beach and Pond EarthCache

Bartlett’s Beach and Pond

Dedicated to Mathieu de l'Acadie and DND.Fireman

Bartlett's Beach is one of several beaches in Port Maitland, a small community in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. One of the beaches is the Port Maitland provincial beach. It is a one km sand and cobble beach backed by a grassy picnic area. The nearby wharf and fishing boats are favorite subjects for painters and photographers

Beach

The berm/beach is a shore zone of coarse unconsolidated sediment that extends from the low-water line to the highest reach of storm waves. Beaches serve as buffer zones or shock absorbers that protect the coastline, sea cliffs or dunes from direct wave attack.

The profile of the sand beach consists of three zones: (1) the backshore which extends from the high tide limit landward to the dune, (2) the foreshore or the intertidal zone, and (3) the nearshore, which is the low tide level and seaward to the offshore bars. A major element of the backshore is the landward-sloping berm. The berm is generally flat and ends seaward at the berm crest. The berm is the area of the beach most often used for recreation on the beach during low and high tide.

Barrier Beach

Some beaches, called barrier beaches, protect the mainland from the battering of ocean waves. These narrow beaches form barriers between the open ocean and the inland or for here a salt pond. The rocks have been washed up and pushed up to form a barrier so the water doesn’t break over the spits that protect the salt pond. Barrier beach systems consist of several distinctive topographic elements: the beach and dune complex, tidal inlets, and wetlands such as mudflats or salt marsh.

Rocky beaches are created by the erosion of coastal cliffs. These cliffs are crumbled into different sizes of rocks along the shoreline. The buildup of large rocks prevents the formation of sandy beach sediments.

Spits

A spit is a narrow coastal land formation that is tied to the coast, shore or bluff at one end. Spits frequently form where the coast abruptly changes direction and often occur across the mouths of estuaries. They may develop from each headland as they do in this case.

Spits, which may be composed of sand or shingle, are formed by the longshore movement of sediment. They often are complexly curved, with a characteristic recurved head (hook); this probably results from the refraction of waves around the spit's end.

Lagoon vs Estuary

Estuaries and Lagoons share several similarities, and they are often confused because both of them are water bodies, and they are typically coastal features.

An estuary refers to a coastal body of water which is partially enclosed having a river or a stream, or several of them flowing into an estuary while at the same time having a free link to the ocean or the sea. They are generally a transition zone between the river environment and ocean environment, and therefore they experience the influence of both the river and the ocean.

On the other hand, a lagoon refers to a shallow body of water which is alienated by a reef or barrier from the larger body of water, and they are common coastal landforms in different regions around the world. There are two types of lagoons, and they include atoll lagoons and the coastal lagoons. The coastal lagoons are often confused with estuaries.

There is a significant difference between a lagoon and an estuary regarding their depth. Lagoons are typically shallow, especially the coastal lagoons, whereas estuaries are deeper compared to lagoons and have depths not exceeding 65 feet. Lagoons have a depth which hardly exceeds a few feet, and as a result of the shallowness, they are highly susceptible to variation in wind, evaporation, and precipitation. As a result, a lagoon could have a huge variation in salinity and temperatures. Usually, there is a tidal exchange in a lagoon of freshwater inflows which affects the salinity of the water. Lagoons, therefore, could have water varying from freshwater to brackish water and hypersaline water depending on the timing of the tide.

Another major difference among the two features is the flow dynamics of the water. With estuaries, the water flows faster, and they are strong, whereas in the lagoons they are relatively shallow, and the water flow is sluggish. In estuaries, there is a unique pattern of flow of water that circulates in the estuary. The lighter water which is less dense flows out of the estuary into the sea or the ocean from the surface while the heavier or dense water, which is saline, flows to the estuary from the ocean or sea near the floor.

Lagoon Classification

Lagoons can be classified into three different categories, and they are choked lagoons, restricted lagoons, and leaky lagoons.

Choked lagoons typically have a narrow channel towards the sea, and they are formed in regions where waves have high energy. The narrow channels always limit the entry of tides and prevent vigorous mixing of water. In arid regions where high evaporations are experienced, these types of lagoons become permanently or temporarily hypersaline.

Restricted lagoons have several channels to the sea typically more than one which temporarily restricts water exchange. However, in reality, there is a good exchange of water resulting in a net transport of water to the sea. Wind plays a major role in restricted lagoons because surface currents can develop, resulting in mixing of water.

Leaky lagoons are characterized by wider channels to the sea without any hindrance in water interchange and typically experience fast water currents. Leaky lagoons are on the opposite end of the spectrum from choked lagoons.

To log this Earthcache visit the viewing location. Please answer the following questions and send in a timely manner to my geocaching profile or email. Answers not received will result in deleted logs.

Questions

1 - What direction does the beach face?

2 - Why did the protection (barrier) form to protect the shore from this direction?

3 - How long are the two spits (near spit and far spit)?

4 - Which spit formed first, the near or far and why?

5 - What classification of lagoon is it and why (chocked, restricted, leaky)?

6 - Estimate the area (acres or hectares) of the lagoon/estuary? Use reference point A (N 44° 1.801' W 66° 8.580')

7 - What percentage of the estimated area is lagoon vs estuary?

8 - Which section, lagoon or estuary will have the most salt, why?

9 - Post a picture in your log with a personal item or hand in picture to prove you were there.

[REQUIRED] In accordance with the updated guidelines from Geocaching Headquarters published in June 2019, photos are now an acceptable logging requirement and WILL BE REQUIRED TO LOG THIS CACHE. Please provide a photo of yourself or a personal item in the picture to prove you visited the site.