Beach Berms EarthCache
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Alongside a coastal road.
This cache site is what is called a storm pebble beach, or Berm beach, to give it its proper name.
Storm pebble beaches have an interesting shape. There is a wall of pebbles running the full length of the beach. The wall has a flat top, and there is a series of flat steps going down towards the sea.
How did this type of beach come into existence? Each winter storms throw pebbles up on to the beach. The really big waves throw both big and smaller rocks high up the beach. During the winter months there will be some really violent storms, and quite a few that are not so strong. The worst storms throw the rocks to the top of the berm, and smaller storms form the berm steps lower down.
These berms are usually found in a closed bay, with a headland at both ends. The stones have nowhere else to go, so they just build higher and higher. The pebbles also become rounded as they are rolled up and down the beach.
Often the berm can completely block streams flowing into the sea, and this can cause fresh water ponds or marshy land to form behind the berm.
On this beach you will often see many people riding the waves. So, as you think about the surfers . . . remember the beach berms!
To prove you have been there, take a photo of yourself holding a flat pebble from the top of the berm, and answer the following question in your log:
WHICH ROCKS ARE ON THE TOP OF THE BERM - LARGER OR SMALLER? ANY IDEA WHY?
Additional Hints
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