Late Pleistocene Boulder Slumps Eroded from a Basalt Shoreline at El Confital Beach on Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain)
This study examines the role of North Atlantic storms degrading a Late Pleistocene rocky shoreline formed by basaltic rocks overlying hyaloclastite rocks on a small volcanic peninsula connected to Gran Canaria in the central region of the Canary Archipelago. A conglomerate dominated by large, ellips...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2077-1312/9/2/138/ 2023-08-20T04:08:20+02:00 Late Pleistocene Boulder Slumps Eroded from a Basalt Shoreline at El Confital Beach on Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) Inés Galindo Markes E. Johnson Esther Martín-González Carmen Romero Juana Vegas Carlos S. Melo Sérgio P. Ávila Nieves Sánchez agris 2021-01-29 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9020138 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Geological Oceanography https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jmse9020138 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Marine Science and Engineering; Volume 9; Issue 2; Pages: 138 coastal storm deposits storm surge hydrodynamic equations upper pleistocene marine isotope substage 5e North Atlantic Ocean Text 2021 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9020138 2023-08-01T00:57:53Z This study examines the role of North Atlantic storms degrading a Late Pleistocene rocky shoreline formed by basaltic rocks overlying hyaloclastite rocks on a small volcanic peninsula connected to Gran Canaria in the central region of the Canary Archipelago. A conglomerate dominated by large, ellipsoidal to angular boulders eroded from an adjacent basalt flow was canvassed at six stations distributed along 800 m of the modern shore at El Confital, on the outskirts of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. A total of 166 individual basalt cobbles and boulders were systematically measured in three dimensions, providing the database for analyses of variations in clast shape and size. The goal of this study was to apply mathematical equations elaborated after Nott (2003) and subsequent refinements in order to estimate individual wave heights necessary to lift basalt blocks from the layered and joint-bound sea cliffs at El Confital. On average, wave heights in the order of 4.2 to 4.5 m are calculated as having impacted the Late Pleistocene rocky coastline at El Confital, although the largest boulders in excess of 2 m in diameter would have required larger waves for extraction. A review of the fossil marine biota associated with the boulder beds confirms a littoral to very shallow water setting correlated in time with Marine Isotope Stage 5e (Eemian Stage) approximately 125,000 years ago. The historical record of major storms in the regions of the Canary and Azorean islands indicates that events of hurricane strength were likely to have struck El Confital in earlier times. Due to its high scientific value, the outcrop area featured in this study is included in the Spanish Inventory of Geosites and must be properly protected and managed to ensure conservation against the impact of climate change foreseen in coming years. Text North Atlantic MDPI Open Access Publishing Las Palmas ENVELOPE(-60.674,-60.674,-62.971,-62.971) Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 9 2 138 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
coastal storm deposits storm surge hydrodynamic equations upper pleistocene marine isotope substage 5e North Atlantic Ocean |
spellingShingle |
coastal storm deposits storm surge hydrodynamic equations upper pleistocene marine isotope substage 5e North Atlantic Ocean Inés Galindo Markes E. Johnson Esther Martín-González Carmen Romero Juana Vegas Carlos S. Melo Sérgio P. Ávila Nieves Sánchez Late Pleistocene Boulder Slumps Eroded from a Basalt Shoreline at El Confital Beach on Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) |
topic_facet |
coastal storm deposits storm surge hydrodynamic equations upper pleistocene marine isotope substage 5e North Atlantic Ocean |
description |
This study examines the role of North Atlantic storms degrading a Late Pleistocene rocky shoreline formed by basaltic rocks overlying hyaloclastite rocks on a small volcanic peninsula connected to Gran Canaria in the central region of the Canary Archipelago. A conglomerate dominated by large, ellipsoidal to angular boulders eroded from an adjacent basalt flow was canvassed at six stations distributed along 800 m of the modern shore at El Confital, on the outskirts of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. A total of 166 individual basalt cobbles and boulders were systematically measured in three dimensions, providing the database for analyses of variations in clast shape and size. The goal of this study was to apply mathematical equations elaborated after Nott (2003) and subsequent refinements in order to estimate individual wave heights necessary to lift basalt blocks from the layered and joint-bound sea cliffs at El Confital. On average, wave heights in the order of 4.2 to 4.5 m are calculated as having impacted the Late Pleistocene rocky coastline at El Confital, although the largest boulders in excess of 2 m in diameter would have required larger waves for extraction. A review of the fossil marine biota associated with the boulder beds confirms a littoral to very shallow water setting correlated in time with Marine Isotope Stage 5e (Eemian Stage) approximately 125,000 years ago. The historical record of major storms in the regions of the Canary and Azorean islands indicates that events of hurricane strength were likely to have struck El Confital in earlier times. Due to its high scientific value, the outcrop area featured in this study is included in the Spanish Inventory of Geosites and must be properly protected and managed to ensure conservation against the impact of climate change foreseen in coming years. |
format |
Text |
author |
Inés Galindo Markes E. Johnson Esther Martín-González Carmen Romero Juana Vegas Carlos S. Melo Sérgio P. Ávila Nieves Sánchez |
author_facet |
Inés Galindo Markes E. Johnson Esther Martín-González Carmen Romero Juana Vegas Carlos S. Melo Sérgio P. Ávila Nieves Sánchez |
author_sort |
Inés Galindo |
title |
Late Pleistocene Boulder Slumps Eroded from a Basalt Shoreline at El Confital Beach on Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) |
title_short |
Late Pleistocene Boulder Slumps Eroded from a Basalt Shoreline at El Confital Beach on Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) |
title_full |
Late Pleistocene Boulder Slumps Eroded from a Basalt Shoreline at El Confital Beach on Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) |
title_fullStr |
Late Pleistocene Boulder Slumps Eroded from a Basalt Shoreline at El Confital Beach on Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Late Pleistocene Boulder Slumps Eroded from a Basalt Shoreline at El Confital Beach on Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) |
title_sort |
late pleistocene boulder slumps eroded from a basalt shoreline at el confital beach on gran canaria (canary islands, spain) |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9020138 |
op_coverage |
agris |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-60.674,-60.674,-62.971,-62.971) |
geographic |
Las Palmas |
geographic_facet |
Las Palmas |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering; Volume 9; Issue 2; Pages: 138 |
op_relation |
Geological Oceanography https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jmse9020138 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9020138 |
container_title |
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
138 |
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1774720540215345152 |