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Narrow beaches and steep cliffs rim the central coast of Washington, from Point Grenville to the Hoh River.
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These soft sandstones and siltstones are continually eroding and sliding. High winds erode the upper cliff face. Erosion at the base of the cliff occurs during winter storms.
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This sea stack at Point Grenville is composed of volcanic material that was ejected onto the sea floor as lava 45 to 50 million years ago.
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Boulders and cobbles can be found near Cape Elizabeth. Many beaches along the central coast are made of sediment from eroding sea-cliffs. Because there are geological differences in the cliffs, beach textures vary from fine sand to large cobbles.
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Images courtesy of: Greg Pelletier; S. Eykelhoff and R.C. Daniels. Coastal surface geology of Washington State, 2000. In Coastal and Marine Slide Compilation (CD-ROM), Volume 1. R.C. Daniels (ed.). Coastal and Marine Specialty Group, Association of American Geographers, Washington D.C. To order this publication, visit http://aag_coma.homestead.com.
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