The House on Ipswich Marsh by William Sargent

Author:William Sargent
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University Press of New England

Another way of envisioning this process is to think of the barrier beach as rolling over itself as storms push dunes landward and the beach retreats. Sometimes this process happens so fast that you can see layers of peat in the surf of the outer beach after a storm. The peat is the remains of the marsh that used to grow on the landward side of the barrier beach. The marsh has stayed stationary and the dunes have simply rolled over the top of them.

Cape Cod witnessed a dramatic example of rollover in the nineteenth century. During the summer of 1863, the bleached timbers of an ancient wreck appeared on the outer beach like a ghost rising from the dead. Nobody could remember a ship wrecking on this portion of the outer beach. In fact, the Sparrowhawk had not wrecked on the outer beach. It had gone aground inside Pleasant Bay, been duly recorded by Governor Bradford in 1625, then promptly forgotten for 250 years. It had reappeared in 1863, not because it had moved but because Nauset Beach had migrated a thousand feet inland. The barrier beach had rolled over the wreck until it had reappeared on the ocean side.

The same thing has happened less dramatically on Crane’s Beach. The remains of a sand schooner, the Ada K. Damon, reappeared on the beach after being buried for almost a hundred years. The western Steep Hill side of the beach has also become rocky as the sand and dunes have been steadily washed away. It is another reminder of how much erosion has already accelerated because of sea-level rise.

Remains of the Ada K. Damon.

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