Shore platform and cliff notch transitions along the La Paz Peninsula, southern Baja, Mexico
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1344/GeologicaActa2015.13.2.7Keywords:
Notches, Shore platforms, Erosion rates, Wave exposure, WeatheringAbstract
Increasing exposure to wave action produces a northerly transition from high tidal notches to shore platforms inthe andesitic lahar deposits of the La Paz Peninsula, southern Baja, Mexico. Twenty-four notches were surveyedand wear pins were cemented into the apex of each notch. Thirty-six transverse micro-erosion meter (TMEM)stations were installed on three surveyed platforms. Field measurements were made over a 2.5 year period.The wear pins suggested notch backwearing (horizontal erosion) is <2mm yr-1. The shore platforms were fairlynarrow (a few tens of metres) and steeper (1º) than most platforms in similar microtidal environments, reflectinga weak wave environment and resistant rocks. Mean TMEM downwearing (vertical erosion) rates for each of thethree platforms ranged from 0.14mm yr-1 to 0.42mm yr-1. There was a good relationship between notch height(difference in elevation between the floor and the roof at the front of the notch) and exposure to wave action, butnotch depth is time-dependent and the relationship with exposure was not statistically significant. Notch heightwas also related to the orientation and wave fetch of the site. Field evidence suggested that the notches were notproduced by bioerosion or chemical weathering but by alternate wetting and drying or salt weathering from hightidal immersion and wave-generated splash and spray. Coastal morphology is fairly well adjusted to present sealevel although notch occurrence in the upper portion of the high tidal zone suggests that there is slow tectonic uplift in this region.References
Aranda-Gómez, J.J, Perez-Venzor, J.A., 1988. Estudio Geológico de Punta Coyotes, Baja California Sur. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Geología. Revista, 7, 1-21.
Bellon, H., Aguillón-Robles, A., Calmus, T., Maury, R.C., Bourgois, J., Cotton, J., 2006. La Purísima volcanic field, Baja California Sur (Mexico): Miocene to Quaternary volcanism related to subduction and opening of an asthenospheric window. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 152, 253-272.
Bird, J.B., Richards, A., Wong, P.P., 1979. Coastal Subsystems of western Barbados, West Indies. Geografiska Annaler. Series
A, Physical Geography, 61, 221-236.
Butzer, K.W., 1962. Coastal geomorphology of Majorca. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 52, 191-212.
Christiansen, S., 1963. Morphology of some coral cliffs, Bismarck Archipelago. Geografisk Tidsskrift, 62, 1-23.
Clark, J.A., Lingle, C.S., 1979. Predicted relative sea level changes (18,000 years BP to Present) caused by late-glacial retreat of the Antarctic ice sheet. Quaternary Research, 11, 279-298.
Dalongeville, M., 1977. Formes littorals de corrosion dans les roches carbonatées au Liban. Méditerranée, 30, 21-33.
Dasgupta, R., 2011. Whither shore platforms? Progress in Physical Geography, 35, 183-209.
DeDiego-Forbis, T., Douglas, R., Gorsline, D., Nava-Sanchez, E., Mack, L., Banner, J., 2004. Late Pleistocene (Last Interglacial) terrace deposits, Bahia Coyote, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Quaternary International, 120, 29-40.
morphology on Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles), with special attention to the origin of the notches and vermetid/coralline algal surf benches (‘cornices’, ‘trottoirs’). Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie Supplementbände, 22, 329-349.
Hausback, B.P., 1984. Cenozoic volcanic and tectonic evolution of Baja California Sur, Mexico. In: Frizzell, V.A. (ed.). Geology of the Baja California Peninsula. Pacific Section of the Society for Sedimentary Geology, 39, 219-236.
Hodgkin, E.P., 1970. Geomorphology and biological erosion of limestone coasts in Malaysia. Geological Society of Malaysia Bulletin, 3, 27-51.
Kázmér, M., Taboroši, D., 2012. Rapid profiling of marine notches using a handheld laser distance meter. Journal of Coastal Research, 28, 964-969.
Kelletat, D.H., 2005. Notches. In: Schwartz, M.L. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Coastal Science. Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 728-729.
Kirk, R.M., 1977. Rates and forms of erosion on the tidal platforms at Kaikoura Peninsula, South Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 20, 571-613.
Kogure, T., Aoki, H., Maekado, A., Hirose, T., Matsukura, Y., 2006. Effect of the development of notches and tension cracks on instability of limestone coastal cliffs in the Ryukyus, Japan. Geomorphology, 80, 236-244.
Lonsdale, P., 1991. Structural patterns of the Pacific floor offshore of peninsular California. In: Dauphin, J.P., Simoneit, B.A.
(eds). The Gulf and Peninsular Province of the Californias. Memoir, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 47, 87-125.
Mammerickx, J., Klitgord, K.M., 1982. Northern East Pacific Rise: evolution from 25 m.y. B.P. to the present. Journal of Geophysical Research, 87, 6751-6759.
Mayer, L., Vincent, K.R., 1999. Active tectonics of the Loreto area, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Geomorphology, 27, 243-255.
Moses, C., 2013. Tropical rock coasts: cliff, notch and platform erosion dynamics. Progress in Physical Geography, 37, 206-226.
Naylor, N.A., Stephenson, W.J., Trenhaile, A.S., 2010. Rock coast geomorphology: Recent advances and future research directions. Geomorphology, 114, 3-11. Neumann, A.C., 1966. Observations of coastal erosion in Bermuda and measurements of the boring rate of the sponge Cliona lampa. Limnology and Oceanography, 11, 92-108.
Newell, N.D., 1961. Recent terraces of tropical limestone shores. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie Supplementbände, 3, 87-106.
Paris, R., Naylor, L.A., Stephenson, W.J., 2011. Boulders as a signature of storms on rock coasts. Marine Geology, 283, 1-11.
Pérez-Alberti, A., Trenhaile, A.S., Pires, A., López-Bedoya, J., Chamine, H., Gomes, A. 2012. The effect of boulders on shore platform development and morphology in Galicia, NW. Spain. Continental Shelf Research, 48, 122-137.
Pirazzoli, P.A., 1986. Marine notches. In: van de Plassche, O. (ed.). Sea-level Research: A Manual for the Collection and Evaluation of Data. Norwich, Geo Books, 361-400.
Pirazzoli, P.A., Evelpidou, N., 2013. Tidal notches: A sealevel indicator of uncertain archival trustworthiness. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 369, 377-384.
Porter, N.J., Trenhaile, A.S., Prestanski, K., Kanyaya, J.I., 2010. Patterns of surface downwearing on shore platforms in eastern Canada. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 35, 1793-1810.
Ramírez-Herrera, M.T., Kostoglodov, V., Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J., 2004. Holocene-emerged notches and tectonic uplift along the Jalisco coast, Southwest Mexico. Geomorphology, 58, 291-304.
Roden, G.I., 1964. Oceanographic aspects of Gulf of California. In: van Andel, T.H., Shor, G.G. (eds.). Marine Geology of the Gulf of California. Tulsa, Oklahoma, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 30-58.
Russell, R.J., 1963. Recent recession of tropical cliffy coasts. Science, 139, 9-15.
Scoffin, T.P., 1993. The geological effects of hurricanes on coral reefs and the interpretation of storm deposits. Coral Reefs,
, 203-221.
Spencer, T., 1981. Micro-topographic change on calcarenites, Grand Cayman Island, West Indies. Earth Surface Processes
and Landforms, 6, 85-94.
Spencer, T., 1985a. Marine erosion rates and coastal morphology of reef limestones on Grand Cayman Island, West Indies.
Coral Reefs, 4, 59-70.
Spencer, T., 1985b. Weathering rates on a Caribbean reef limestone: results and implications. Marine Geology, 69, 195-201.
Stephenson ,W.J., 2000. Shore platforms: remain a neglected coastal feature. Progress in Physical Geography, 24, 311-327.
Stephenson, W.J., Dickson, M.E., Trenhaile, A.S., 2013. Rock Coasts. In: Shroder, J.F. (ed.). Treatise on Geomorphology. San Diego, Academic Press, 10, 289-307.
Stoddart, D.R., 1985. Hurricane effects on coral reefs. Proceedings of the 5th International Coral Reef Congress, Tahiti, 3, 349-350.
Takenaga, K., 1968. The classification of notch profiles and the origin of notches. Chigaku Zasshi (Journal of Geography, Tokyo), 77, 329-341.
Trenhaile, A.S., 1972. The shore platforms of the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 56, 127-144.
Trenhaile, A.S., 1974. The geometry of shore platforms in England and Wales. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 62, 129-142.
Trenhaile, A.S., 1978. The shore platforms of Gaspé, Québec. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 68, 95-114.
Trenhaile, A.S., 1980. Shore platforms: a neglected coastal feature. Progress in Physical Geography, 4, 1-23.
Trenhaile, A.S., 1987. The Geomorphology of Rock Coasts. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 384pp.
Trenhaile, A.S., 2000. Modeling the development of wave-cut shore platforms. Marine Geology, 166, 163-178.
Trenhaile, A.S., 2011. Cliffs and Rock Coasts. In: McLusky, D.S., Wolanski, E. (eds.). Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science. Waltham, Academic Press, 3 (ed. Flemming, B.W., Hansom, J.D.), 171-191.
Trudgill, S.T., 1976. The marine erosion of limestone on Aldabra Atoll, Indian Ocean. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie Supplementbände, 26, 164-200.
Verstappen, H.Th., 1960. On the geomorphology of raised coral reefs and its tectonic significance. Zeitschrift fur Geomorphologie, 4, 1-28.
Viles, H.A., Trudgill, S.T., 1984. Long term remeasurements of micro-erosion meter rates, Aldabra Atoll, Indian Ocean. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 9, 89-94.
Vita-Finzi, C., Cornelius, P.F.S., 1973. Cliff sapping by molluscs in Oman. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 43, 31-32.
Woodroffe, C.D., Stoddart, D.R., Harmon, R.S., Spencer, T., 1983: Coastal morphology and Late Quaternary history, Cayman Islands, West Indies. Quaternary Research, 19, 64-84.
Wright, L.W., 1970. Variation in the level of the cliff/shore platform junction along the south coast of Great Britain. Marine Geology, 9, 347-353.
Zaytsev, O., Rabinovich, A.B., Thomson, R.E., Silverberg, N., 2010. Intense diurnal surface currents in the Bay of La Paz, Mexico. Continental Shelf Research, 30, 608-619.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright
Geologica Acta is the property of the UB, GEO3BCN, IDAEA and UAB. Geologica Acta must be cited for any partial or full reproduction. Papers are distributed under the Attribution-Share Alike Creative Commons License. This license allows anyone to reproduce and disseminate the content of the journal and even make derivative works crediting authorship and provenance and distributing possible derivative works under the same or an equivalent license.
Author Rights
Authors retain the copyright on their papers and are authorized to post them on their own web pages or institutional repositories. The copyright was retained by the journal from the year 2003 until 2009. In all cases, the complete citation and a link to the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) of the article must be included.
The authors can use excerpts or reproduce illustrations of their papers in other works without prior permission from Geologica Acta provided the source of the paper including the complete citation is fully acknowledged.