Tag Archives: coast

An Introduction to Tsunami

Posted on 11 March 2011 by Mika

The 11 March 2011 earthquake near Honshu, Japan triggered a tsunami that spread across the Pacific Ocean. The tsunami arrived an hour before I gave the first tsunami lecture for the Natural Catastrophes class. In that context, it seems an … Continue reading →

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Guest Lecture: Australian Coastal Geomorphology

Posted on 20 November 2009 by Mika

‘Tis the season to be talky! I’m giving another talk next week — a guest lecture on Australian Coastal geomorphology. I’ll be talking about the processes that create coastal landforms, and showing lots of pretty pictures of examples from the … Continue reading →

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Rangitoto Island, New Zealand

Posted on 20 August 2009 by Mika

Rangitoto, New Zealand is the youngest and largest volcano in the Auckland Volcanic Field. With a final eruption at least 600 years ago, the volcanic island is slowly weathering into soil. The rate of weathering is increased both by rainfall-watered … Continue reading →

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Paleodunes at Barwon Heads

Posted on 18 August 2009 by Mika

The bluffs of Barwon Heads are aeolian calcarnite — solidified sand dunes. As rain fell on the sand dunes, the top surface is cemented as calcrete. More dunes formed on top, and more, and more, with layers of hardened calcrete … Continue reading →

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The Beach of Wonthaggi

Posted on 17 August 2009 by Mika

Coastlines are landscapes of constant change. Near Wonthaggi, Australia, the shore is stabilized by extensive rock platforms and high rock-cored sand dunes. Small erosion patterns etch into the sand as the ebbing tide drains off the beach, and a river … Continue reading →

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Basalt Cobbles & Onion Skin Weathering

Posted on 16 August 2009 by Mika

At Settlement Point east of Melbourne, extensive basalts and tuffs of the Older Volcanics form the cliffs and shore platforms. The spherical weathering occurs as water penetrates along joints and fractures, decaying the rock layer by layer like onion skin. … Continue reading →

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Squeaky Sand on the Friendly Beach

Posted on 15 August 2009 by Mika

The white sands of Friendly Beach, Tasmania, Tasmania, squeak under every step. The sand is nearly pure silica, originating in quartz-baring rocks, eroded into sand, compacted into sandstone, and re-eroded into fine, smooth, rounded grains. The black rock shore platforms … Continue reading →

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Sand Bubbler Crabs

Posted on 1 August 2009 by Mika

Scopimera inflata is an artist among crabs, creating beautiful patterns of tiny sand spheres while foraging for food. The crab scuttles from its hole, and begins rolling balls while sucking any algae and other nutritious goodies from the sand. The … Continue reading →

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Coastal Geomorphology: details of stops

Posted on 15 February 2009 by Mika

This is a gallery of photos from the Coastal Geomorphology field trip. The sites are numbered in accordance with the trip map in chronological order (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday). Clicking each thumbnail will bring up a new page with … Continue reading →

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Coastal Geomorphology: An Overview

Posted on 15 February 2009 by Mika

The VEIPS Coastal Geomorphology course resulted in over a hundred pages of notes (48 handwritten + 61 photos) and over a thousand photographs from the last five days. Geomorphology is the processes by which landforms are created; coastal geomorphology involves … Continue reading →

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