Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T12:54:16.001Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Shoreline Changes Along the Southeastern Coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts for the Past 200 Years

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

J.Gordon Ogden III
J.Gordon Ogden III*
Affiliation:
Dept. of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Shoreline changes since 1776, including two 30-yr periods separated by nearly 100 yr are documented from surveys, topographic maps, harbor charts, and aerial photographs for the southeastern corner of the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts (41°25′ N, 70°35′ W). From 1776 to 1969, a barrier beach has receded by more than 880 m, and average rate of 4.6 m/yr. A series of four detailed surveys from 1840 to 1886 document consistent shoreline retreat in this area of 3.1 m/yr.

For the period 1938–1969, planimetry from aerial photographs and field observation indicate that more than 28 ha and nearly 3 × 106 m3 of foreland composed of till have washed away. A house, located 200 m from the cliff edge of the foreland in 1938 was only 56 m from the cliff edge in July 1972.

Violent storms were associated with the opening of the bay behind the barrier beach in nearly the same location in 1856, 1886, 1938, and 1954. Easterly migration of the opening results in rapid erosion of the southeastern corner of the island (Wasque Point) and eventual closing of the opening.

Field observation of the 1954 opening indicates that the mechanism of failure of the barrier beach is primarily by storm tide-induced subsidence. Subsequently, strong (up to 1.2 mps) easterly currents cause migration of the opening to the east and closure within 15 yr.

A summary review of evidence for changes in sea level in the past is suggested in partial explanation for the consistent shoreline retreat described in this paper.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 4 , Issue 4 , December 1974 , pp. 496 - 508
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Banks, C.E., (1911). The History of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Vol. 1, Dean Co.,, Boston, MassGeneral History.Google Scholar
Bloom, A.L., (1967). Pleistocene shorelines: A new test of isostasy. Geological Society of America Bulletin 78, 1477–1494.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Des Barres, J.F.W., (1774–1781). Part of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Islands and Buzzard Bay, the Elizabeth Islands, Vineyard Sound. The Atlantic Neptune. London, publ. for the British Navy.Google Scholar
Grant, D.R., (1970). Recent coastal submergence of the Maritime Provinces, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Science 7, 675–689.Google Scholar
Kaye, C.A., (1964a). Outlines of the Pleistocene Geology of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 501-C, C139.Google Scholar
Kaye, C.A., (1964b). The upper limit of barnacles as an index of sea level change on the New England coast during the past 100 years. Journal of Geology 72, 580–600.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaye, C.A., (1973). Map showing changes in shoreline of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, during the past 200 years. U.S. Geologic Survey, Miscellaneous Field Studies, Map MF-534 .Google Scholar
Kaye, C.A., Barghoorn, E.S., (1964). Late quaternary sealevel change and crustal rise at Boston, Massachusetts, with notes on the autocompaction of peat. Geological Society of America Bulletin 75, 63–80.Google Scholar
Ogden, J.G. III, Hay, R.J., (1973). Ohio Wesleyan University natural radiocarbon measurements V. Radiocarbon 15, 350–366.Google Scholar
Shaler, N.S., (1888). Geology of Martha's Vineyard. 297–363VIIth Annual Report U.S. Geologic Survey.Google Scholar
USACE(1969). Edgartown Harbor, Massachusettts Survey Review of Reports. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England Division, Waltham, Mass.Google Scholar
Walcott, R.I., (1972). Past sea levels, eustasy, and deformation of the Earth. Quaternary Research 2, 1–14.Google Scholar
Walcott, R.I., (1972b). Late quaternary vertical movement in eastern North America: Quantitative evidence of glacial-isostatic rebound. Reviews of Geophysics and Space Physics 10, 849–884.Google Scholar
Whiting, H.L., (1872). Shoreline retreat at Cotamy Bay. VIIth Ann. Report. Harbor Commissioners, Boston 106–111.Google Scholar
Whiting, H.L., (1887). Recent coastal changes at Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Annual Report Appendix 9.Google Scholar
Woodworth, J.B., Wigglesworth, E., (1934). Geography and Geology of the region including Cape Cod, the Elizabeth Islands, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and Block Island. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard, Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar