A reconnaissance heavy mineral study of Monteray Bay beach sediment

The shoreline of Monterey Bay is beached over most of its length. The beach is essentially continuous except for the northern and southern ends of the bay which are characterized by numerous pocket beaches separated by narrow cliffed areas which extend to beyond the low water level. There appears to be no large supply of sand to the beaches at present as the rivers entering the bay are, with few exceptions, flooded estuaries that are ponded up to 20 miles upstream from the shore of the bay. It is probable that this 30 mile stretch of shoreline has reached a state of equilibrium under present hydrodynamic conditions. The present study is of a preliminary nature and was undertaken to determine if a static equilibrium does exist, if there is any significant transport along the shores of the bay, and to delineate what are the littoral transport patterns, if any. The approach used has been that of a heavy mineral study of the sand sized particles in the beach samples collected. Samples were grouped on the basis of their contained heavy mineral suites and in this manner large sedimentary provinces were delineated on the basis of similarity of heavy mineral composition. The relationships between the various provinces and between the provinces and physiographic features has been used to determine the littoral transport patterns and their relation to present conditions