AIM OF STUDY

The aim of the study is to describe and explain the impact of coastal processes on a section of The Palisadoes, Kingston and Hectors River, Portland, Jamaica.

Location of Study Areas

Methodology
Primary Data was collected on Thursday the 4th of October, 2012 between the hours of 8:30 AM and 6:00 PM during a field exercise by students and teachers of Wolmers Boys School. The areas chosen for field study along the eastern coast of Jamaica were the Palisadoes, the Yallhas Ponds and Hectors River. At each location data was collected on wave patterns. The wave type was recorded by observing how the waves broke on the shore. The frequency of the waves was determined by examining the average of three recordings of the amount of breaking waves per minute for each stop. The frequency was taken through an experiment. An approximation was made of the wave height at each stop. Pictures were taken of the coastal features and diagrams illustrating coastal processes were sketched. Secondary Data was collected from maps and aerial photographs to identify larger features. The internet and text books were consulted to explain the coastal processes and maps and pictures helped to demonstrate the observations made and present information on the location of the stops. Notes were taken of information provided by the teachers explaining coastal processes. The Palisadoes is a part of the parish of Kingston and is south of the capital Kingston and the Down Town area. The Palisadoes is a tombolo that begins at the southern wing of Harbour View and terminates in the Caribbean Sea 3 km away from the other end of the harbour. It connects Port Royal to Harbour View and separates Kingston Harbour from the Caribbean sea. The point along the Palisadoes at which we stopped is commonly referred to as Plumb Point. Plumb Point is adjacent to Norman Manley International Airport and is 6.4 km into the tombolo from the roundabout at Harbour View. The second stop was Hectors River which is located in the parish of Portland nearby the border of Portland and St. Thomas along the coast. The Hectors River in
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Portland. Hectors River is approximately 27.4km south of the capital Port Antonio. Hectors River is east of a main road in Portland and two communities, White Lane and Hordley. Hectors River is not actually a river but a series of headlands and bays, coves and inlets (See Appendix 1).

Presentation, Analysis and Discussion of Data

Stop1- The Palisadoes The Palisadoes is a strip of land, some 14 km long, that almost completely encloses the Kingston Harbour (See Figure 1). The Palisadoes tombolo connects the island of Port Royal to Harbour View. The study area commonly known as Plum Point was adjacent to the Norman Manley International Airport and was situated 7 km from the Harbour View roundabout. The tombolo which is exposed to wave actions also had mangroves growing atop secure sediments that were characterized by dune vegetation on the southern windward side and mangrove thickets on the northern leeward side. The coastal features identified at the Palisadoes include beaches (storm beaches), sand dunes, berms, bays and a tombolo (Defined in Appendix 1).

Figure 1- The Palisadoes Tombolo

Wave Action

The dominant waves approaching the Palisadoes came from the south east resulting in longshore drift current which moves sediments gradually westward along the shore. The waves at The Palisadoes were observed to break at the crest of the wave resulting in turbulence spilling down the face of the wave and a mass of foaming surf rushing up the beach. Based on this observation the type of waves at the Palisadoes were determined to be spilling breaker waves. The wave height was also estimated to be about 3 feet high.
Table 1- Wave Frequency at the Palisadoes

Trial Number 1 2 3 Average wave frequency

Time(s) 60 60 60 8 waves per minute

Number of waves 7 8 9

When waves break at a rate of ten or less a minute, each breaking wave is able to run its course without interference from the wave behind it. These waves are called constructive waves. (See Table 1 above and Appendix) The waves that were observed had a strong swash and a less powerful backwash therefore material is always deposited and transported up the beach. This leads to the formation of predominantly depositional features.

Coastal Formations Tombolo Scientists have called The Palisadoes both a spit and a tombolo. Records show that Port Royal was once an island totally cut off from Jamaica. Sand and shingle along with alluvium from rivers have been transported down the coast by long shore drift (See Appendix 1) until the coast suddenly deviated resulting in sedimentation. The deposits eventually formed a spit through accretion, which continued to grow until island and cays were connected to the main land. The spit then became the Palisadoes Tombolo because it linked an island to the mainland. If the Palisadoes were not replenished by sediment, it would become detached from the mainland getting smaller and smaller through progressive loss of its eastern end, and eventually cease to exist. The Hope and Cane Rivers and possibly other sources further east, bring sand and gravel down to the coast, where it is added to the beach system and is gradually moved west to the Palisadoes.

Beach
The constructive wave action along this coast resulted in the deposition of pebbles, shingle and sand. There is a long stretch of unconsolidated beach all along the seaward side of the Palisadoes. The beach materials identified at the Palisadoes were small black rounded pebbles, shingle, trash and shingle from dumping and predominantly grey sand (See Plate 1). The grey sand and black pebbles are assumed to be alluvium originating from the two rivers that both cut through a black marl quarry and Cement Companys marl quarry(as shown on Map 2) and
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alluviate at the base of the tombolo. The shingle and trash are dumped up on the back shore of the beaches by man, while sand and boulders are moved to the backshore by storm surges. The dark colour of the beach can also be attributed to the absence of coral which would normally make the beach lighter coloured.

Plate 1- Beach Material at Palisadoes

The beach at Plumb Point was determined to be a storm beach as sand and shingle were found to be far beyond the level reached by waves at high tide forming a berm with many sand dunes (See Appendix 1). Mankinds soft engineering has also affected the formation of the berm as ample shingle was added to the ridge of sand over the years. (See Plates 2 and 3)

Plate 2 and 3 - Back and front of the berm at the Palisadoes

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The appearance of the beach suggests that many processes such as abrasion, hydraulic action and attrition were at work in its formation. Long shore drift was observed to carry sediments westward along the tombolo which are deposited along the coast and cause the formation of a beach. Some other observations that indicated coastal processes were:

The pebbles at the shore of the beach were small and round suggesting that abrasion is occurring as beach material is hurled at the beach by the waves and causes the surface of the rocks to be grinded down.

The presence of attrition is evident as pebbles become rounded through comminution. Hydraulic action and wave pounding were also observed and can hasten the rate of erosion of sediments.

Figure 2- Slope of the beach at Palisadoes and the sediments found on it

The stones have an obvious grading of pebbles as seen in figure 2, from large to small, with the larger diameter stones arrayed at the highest beach elevations at The Palisodoes.

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Bay
The bay at the Palisadoes occurs as a result of beach depletion and particularly because of sediment transportation and not as a result of erosion. In more recent years, the rivers that supplied sediments to the tombolo became barren, therefore reducing the supply of material. However, longshore drift continues and as a result the sediments transported from the base of the tombolo are not replenished resulting in the formation of a bay.

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Stop 2- Hectors River Hectors River is an area of rocky coast that is now a series of headlands, bays and inlets along the eastern coast of Jamaica that are exposed to wave action. Hectors River is close to Wharf Road and is the site of the Water Lane community (See Figure 3). Hectors River is located 3.9 km south of Manchioneal along the main road. Hectors River is also composed of a type of rock called honey comb coral. In addition to cliffs and bays there are many other features such as coves, inlets, caves, arches, stacks, stumps, wave cut platform and notch, headlands, bay head beaches, blow holes (Defined in Appendix 1).

Figure 3- Hector's River

Wave Action The waves were observed to collide with the cliff and were launched violently upward at the headlands interfering with the observation of wave type. Despite this, the waves were observed to be swell waves at the headlands and surging waves at the bay head beaches. At the bays the waves would break like a plunging breaker trapping a pocket of air and creating
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turbulence as it touched the underlying surface of water before reaching the coast. The turbulence then formed a wall of foaming surf surging up to the coast. The wave height was estimated to be 3 feet.
Table 2- Wave Frequency at Hector's River

Trial Number 1 2 3

Time(s) 60 60 60

Number of Waves 10 12 10

The average wave frequency was 11 waves per minute. This wave frequency would make the waves at Hectors River destructive. (See table 2) The waves that were observed broke frequently and the backwash of the wave ran into the swash of the wave behind it. The force of the swash was reduced in comparison to the back wash resulting in waves having a strong backwash or undertow and a weak swash causing material to be eroded. The Coastal Features found at Hectors River are predominantly erosional. Headlands, Bays and Coves The headlands at Hectors River were formed through the continual build up of a fringing reef along the coast line which left deposits of limestone forming a limestone pavement. The type of coral that formed much of Hectors River is called honey comb cora l. A large flat topped platform with many cusps was observed.

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The headlands at Hectors River were observed to alternate with the bays and coves along the coast. This suggests that there are alternating beds of hard and soft rocks. Harder rocks are more resistant to wave erosion and eventually stand out as a headland while the softer rocks are easily eroded, by hydraulic action and corrosion, to form a curved indentation called a bay. When the rock has a fault or crack the waves attack the weakness in that rock and eventually breaches it to form an inlet. When this inlet is eroded further it forms a circular bay with a narrow entrance like the one at Hectors River that we identified. There were also some beaches identified at the head of the bays (See Plate 4). The waves were observed to travel into the bay slowly, after crashing into the headlands, depositing sand and other materials.

Plate 4- Bay head beach

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Cliff, Wavecut Platform and Notch

Plate 5 - A cliff at Hector's River

We observed several cliffs along the coast as seen in Figure 2. The cliff was formed from honey comb coral a very resistant form of limestone (See Plate 3). We can conclude from observation that these cliffs were formed by the destructive waves attacking the headlands. Over time the headland becomes undercut by erosion and a notch and cliff develop. In some areas we also noticed a terrace at the base of the cliff. This terrace is called a wave cut platform (See Appendix 1). The main erosional process at Hectors River is hydraulic action as the cliff is undercut, though it is also affected by corrosion, abrasion and attrition. Cave, Arch, Stack and Stump The caves and arches at the Hectors River were located at the side of headlands whe re as stumps and stacks were found isolated in front of the headlands.

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Plate 6 - A Stack at Hector's River

This is because headlands contain fissures and cracks that can be widened by hydraulic action, abrasion and corrosion to form caves. The caves develop on either side of a cliff along the same line of weakness and are eventually eroded until they meet forming a natural arch. The roof of the arch connecting the headland to the other column of land eventually collapses leaving an isolated sea stack (See Plate 5 above). The stack can also be further eroded to form a stump. Evidence of a blow hole was observed at one of the cliffs at Hectors River where a deep inlet was located. It is beleave that this was the remains of a collapsed blow hole , which formed when a cave forms along a line of weakness at the base of the cliff. The cliff develops into a cavern and eventually the cavern is eroded upward until the ceiling collapses leaving a hole. The hydraulic action compressing air in the joints is the cause of the collapse. Each time a wave surged through the cave, spray shot up to considerable heights through the opening, known as the blowhole. The main point of comparison between the two areas of study is that the types of waves found at each site are different. The waves at the Palisadoes are constructive while the waves at Hectors River are destructive. The features at the Palisades are created from the deposition of
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materials along the coast giving rise to features such as a storm beach, berm, and Tombolo. The features at Hectors River on the other hand are as a result of erosion and form features like a cliff, wavecut platform and notch, headland and cove, inlet, cave, arch, stack, stump, bay head beach, blow hole. The angles at which the waves interact with the shores are also different. At the Palisadoes the waves break obliquely to the shore and cause long shore drift. At Hectors River the waves are refracted toward the headlands and cliffs and are diffracted on entering the coves and bays. This results in the undercutting of cliffs and the deposition of material at bay heads. The structure of the rocks at both stops was drastically different. At the Hectors River stop the rocks were a form of coral limestone called honey comb coral that is very resistant to erosion in the form of hydraulic action and corrasive action but weak against corrosive action. The rocks at this stop were homogenous and displayed horizontal stratification. The rocks at the Palisadoes were eroded into shingle, sand, alluvium and pebbles. Some of the processes at the Palisadoes and Hectors River were similar in nature, such as bays and beaches. The colour of the beaches differed depending on the material that comprises them. The colour of the beach at the Palisadoes is considered black due to the river and gully deposits composed mostly of alluvium and marl that form it. Some of the beaches at Hectors River are white in contrast because the beaches are formed from coral formations being eroded.

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Conclusion
At The Palisadoes constructive waves give rise to predominantly depositional features. Whereas, at Hectors River destructive waves result in mainly erosional features. The features at both areas of study were impacted by coastal processes such as hydraulic action, attrition, abrasion. However, the coast at The Palisadoes is comprised essentially of sediments and as a result of the processes of, alluviation, sediment transportation and longshore drift and to a lesser extent mankinds interference, we were able to observe the creation of wide beaches, berms and bays comprised mainly of sand shingle and pebbles. At Hectors River we noted

that processes such as corrosion, wave pounding and wave refraction impacted on the rocky limestone coast to form features such as headlands, caves, stacks, stumps which were not present at the Palisadoes.

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