Encyclopedia of the World‘s Coastal Landforms Eric C. F. Bird Editor Encyclopedia of the World‘s Coastal Landforms Volume I With 1379 Figures 123 Editor Eric C.F. Bird, M.Sc. (Lond. and Melb.) Ph.D. (ANU) Principal Fellow in Geomorphology University of Melbourne and Director, Geostudies 343 Beach Road Black Rock, Victoria 3193 Australia [email protected] ISBN 978-1-4020-8638-0 This publication is available also as: Electronic publication under ISBN 978-1-4020-8639-7 Print and electronic bundle under ISBN 978-1-4020-8640-3 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4020-8640-3 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2009938922 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010 All rights reserved: Chapters 8.2, 8.15, 9.4, 10.1, 11.2, 11.3, 18.1 and 20.5 Every eff ort has been made to contact the copyright holders of the fi gures and tables which have been reproduced from other sources. Anyone who has not been properly credited is requested to contact the publishers, so that due acknowledgment may be made in subse- quent editions. N o part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfi lming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifi cally for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Cover fi gures: Images 5084487, 5078544 and 5333716 from photos.com. © 2010 photos.com Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Preface Encyclopedia of the World’s Coastal Landforms is an account of the various kinds of coastal morphology found on the world’s coastlines. It is presented in 224 chapters, based on national, state, or county divisions, and arranged in a sequence that proceeds counterclockwise around the continents. Th e sequence begins with Alaska, proceeds around North America to Arctic Canada, then Greenland and fi nally, Iceland. Another counterclockwise sequence begins with Norway and proceeds by way of Europe and the Mediterranean around Africa to India, Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and the Pacifi c and Arctic coasts of Russia. Interruptions are made at appropriate points to include the Great Lakes, the Caspian Sea, and islands such as Britain, Madagascar, and Japan. Th e sequence is completed with the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, the islands of the Pacifi c, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, and fi nally Antarctica. Th is work was preceded by Th e World’s Coastline, edited by Eric C. F. Bird and Maurice L. Schwartz and published by Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, in 1985. An internet version was published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2004. Th is 2010 edition has also been produced with the aid of 123 contributors. It includes 1,379 illustrations and cites numerous references. Th e focus is on coastal geomorphology, with accounts of features seen along the coastline, illustrat- ing sites of special scientifi c interest. It provides access to the large amount of data that has been assembled, to ensure that it will not just disappear over the next few years. It is now much more diffi cult for scientists to make broad coastal surveys as they are required to specialise more, which usually means they work on small selected coastal sites . Th is book will allow the scientists to place their work in a global context and make comparisons with similar coasts in other parts of the world. Coastal geomorphology has several interest groups. Some focus on the shaping of coastal landforms in relation to geology, processes, variations in climate, and the relative levels of land and sea. Others concentrate on coastline changes measured over specifi ed periods, with analyses of their causes. Others are interested in nearshore processes and responses, particularly beaches, where morphodynamic models have been most successful. Others look to the coastal area for evi- dence of Quaternary history, notably changes in land- and sea level and climatic variations. Others examine the sources and patterns of movement of coastal sediment, or the array of physical-, chemical-, and biological weathering processes in the coastal zone. Coastal managers want information on how landforms are changing, what processes are at work on them, how they will change in the future, and what eff ects will result from the development of various kinds. Th e chapters presented in this version of Encyclopedia of the World’s Coastal Landforms refl ect the interests of their authors, but an attempt is made to serve the wide range of interests of coastal geomorphologists. Th e work was designed initially for scientists needing to identify locations and distributions of coastal features and to make comparisons between coastal landforms in various parts of the world. However, it will also be of value to people seeking general information on coastal landforms in the various countries around the world, including those planning travel and exploration of coastal regions. Armchair travellers can use it to make substantial journeys around the world’s coasts, enjoying a succession of visual images. Indeed, it is unique in presenting the wide variations in scenery and envi- ronment that occur on the world’s coastline. I would like to thank Lew Ward for processing the edited material and illustrations. In assembling the work, I had help from librarians in the University of Melbourne, notably David Jones, Map Curator in the Education Resource Centre. In Black Rock I had assistance from Dr. Juliet Bird, and from Myriam, Audrey, Ingrid, and Céline Vinot. Eric C. F. Bird Geostudies, Melbourne, Australia January 2010 Contents Volume I Editor .......................................................................................................................................................... xxiii List of Contributors ......................................................................................................................................xxv 1.0 USA – Editorial Introduction ...........................................................................................................................1 Eric Bird 1.1 Alaska ................................................................................................................................................................5 Jesse Walker · Molly McGraw 1.2 Washington .....................................................................................................................................................15 Maurice Schwartz · Th omas Terich 1.3 Oregon ............................................................................................................................................................33 Paul D. Komar 1.4 California ........................................................................................................................................................43 Eric Bird 1.5 Texas ...............................................................................................................................................................53 Robert Morton 1.6 Louisiana ........................................................................................................................................................61 Ioannis Georgiou · Mark Kulp · Michael Miner · Duncan FitzGerald 1.7 Mississippi ......................................................................................................................................................69 Ervin Otvos 1.8 Alabama ..........................................................................................................................................................77 Ervin Otvos 1.9 Florida ............................................................................................................................................................83 Charles Finkl 1.10 Georgia ...........................................................................................................................................................89 Miles Hayes 1.11 South Carolina ...............................................................................................................................................93 Miles Hayes 1.12 North Carolina ...............................................................................................................................................99 Stanley R. Riggs 1.13 Atlantic Coast Central (USA) (Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey) ........................................107 Eric Bird viii Contents 1.14 New York and New England .........................................................................................................................113 Henry Bokuniewicz 1.15 Great Lakes (USA) ........................................................................................................................................121 Mary-Louise Byrne 1.16 Hawaii ...........................................................................................................................................................125 Charles H. Fletcher · Eden J. Feirstein 2.0 Canada – Editorial Introduction .................................................................................................................133 Eric Bird 2.1 British Columbia ..........................................................................................................................................135 John J. Clague 2.2 New Brunswick and Nova Scotia .................................................................................................................141 Eric Bird 2.3 Gulf of St. Lawrence .....................................................................................................................................155 Eric Bird 2.4 Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon Islands ................................................................................................................163 Jean-Marie M. Dubois 2.5 Newfoundland ..............................................................................................................................................167 Eric Bird 2.6 Northern Canada .........................................................................................................................................169 Wayne Pollard 2.7 Great Lakes (Canada) ...................................................................................................................................177 Mary-Louise Byrne 3.0 Pacifi c Central America – Editorial Introduction .......................................................................................183 Eric Bird 3.1 Mexico, Pacifi c Coast ...................................................................................................................................185 Mario Gutiérrez-Estrada · Mario Arturo Ortiz-Perez 3.2 Pacifi c Coasts of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama ......................187 Anja Scheff ers · Tony Browne 3.3 Pacifi c Coast of Colombia ............................................................................................................................193 Iván Correa · Robert Morton 4.0 South America – Editorial Introduction .....................................................................................................199 Eric Bird 4.1 Ecuador .........................................................................................................................................................201 H. Ayon · W. Jara Contents ix 4.2 Peru ...............................................................................................................................................................207 Vidal Taype Ramos · Eric Bird 4.3 Chile ..............................................................................................................................................................213 José Araya-Vergara 4.4 Argentina ......................................................................................................................................................219 Enrique Schnack · Jorge Pousa · Germán Bértola · Federico Isla 4.5 Uruguay ........................................................................................................................................................227 Eric Bird 4.6 Brazil .............................................................................................................................................................231 Dieter Muehe 4.7 French Guiana ..............................................................................................................................................239 J. Turenne 4.8 Surinam ........................................................................................................................................................243 Norbert Psuty 4.9 Guyana ..........................................................................................................................................................245 Eric Bird 4.10 Venezuela ......................................................................................................................................................249 L. Ellenberg 4.11 Caribbean Coast of Colombia .....................................................................................................................259 Iván Correa · Robert Morton 4.12 Caribbean Coasts, Panama to Belize ............................................................................................................265 Anja Scheff ers · Tony Browne 4.13 Mexico, Caribbean Coast .............................................................................................................................269 Mario Gutiérrez-Estrada · Mario Arturo Ortiz-Perez 5.0 Caribbean Islands – Editorial Introduction ................................................................................................271 Eric Bird 5.1 Cuba .............................................................................................................................................................273 Ridel Rodríguez 5.2 Jamaica .........................................................................................................................................................279 John Norrman · Tommy Lindell 5.3 Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) ........................................................................................285 Anja Scheff ers · Tony Browne 5.4 Puerto Rico ...................................................................................................................................................289 Jack Morelock ∙ Wilson Ramirez ∙ Maritza Barreto x Contents 5.4.1 Virgin Islands .......................................................................................................................................295 Maurice Schwartz 5.5 Lesser Antilles ..............................................................................................................................................299 Gillian Cambers 6.0 Atlantic Ocean Islands – Editorial Introduction ........................................................................................311 Eric Bird 6.1 Bahamas .......................................................................................................................................................313 Alan K. Craig 6.2 Bermuda .......................................................................................................................................................317 Eric Bird 6.3 Greenland .....................................................................................................................................................319 Eric Bird 6.4 Iceland ..........................................................................................................................................................323 Eggert Larusson 6.5 Other Atlantic Ocean Islands ......................................................................................................................333 Jim Hansom 7.0 British Isles – Editorial Introduction ..........................................................................................................345 Eric Bird 7.1 England and Wales .......................................................................................................................................347 Eric Bird 7.2 Cumbria .......................................................................................................................................................353 Eric Bird 7.3 Lancashire, Merseyside and Cheshire .........................................................................................................358 Eric Bird 7.4 Th e Isle of Man ..............................................................................................................................................361 Eric Bird 7.5 North Wales and Anglesey ...........................................................................................................................366 Eric Bird 7.6 West Wales ....................................................................................................................................................369 Eric Bird 7.7 South Wales ...................................................................................................................................................375 Eric Bird 7.7.1 Th e Severn Estuary ...............................................................................................................................384 Eric Bird Contents xi 7.8 Gloucestershire, Somerset and North Devon ..............................................................................................386 Eric Bird 7.9 Cornwall 7.9.1 Th e North Coast of Cornwall ..............................................................................................................394 Eric Bird 7.9.2 Th e South Coast of Cornwall ...............................................................................................................401 Eric Bird 7.10 Isles of Scilly .................................................................................................................................................410 Eric Bird 7.11 South Devon ..................................................................................................................................................413 Eric Bird 7.12 Dorset ...........................................................................................................................................................420 Eric Bird 7.13 Hampshire .....................................................................................................................................................429 Eric Bird 7.14 Isle of Wight .................................................................................................................................................433 Eric Bird 7.15 Sussex ...........................................................................................................................................................438 Eric Bird 7.16 Kent ..............................................................................................................................................................443 Eric Bird 7.17 Essex ..............................................................................................................................................................447 Eric Bird 7.18 Suff olk ...........................................................................................................................................................450 Eric Bird 7.19 Norfolk ..........................................................................................................................................................454 Eric Bird 7.20 Lincolnshire .................................................................................................................................................459 Eric Bird 7.21 Yorkshire ......................................................................................................................................................461 Eric Bird 7.22 Durham, Tyne and Wear...............................................................................................................................466 Eric Bird