Bird Rock

This is the first of two posts from La Jolla (now two weeks ago) and probably the only serious gravel beach of my San Diego trip.  There are others in the area, but this is the only one I found in my two days of drive-by sampling.

AERIAL VIEW
La Jolla juts out from the coastline and this probably makes the transport of sediment along the shore difficult and discontinuous. Sand may be easily lost offshore and what beaches there are appear to be relatively isolated pockets that form where platform, orientation, and available sediment conspire to create a beach.  I suspect this gravel is locally derived - the sedimentary cliffs had plenty to offer.

This shoreline is heavily developed with fancy homes perched on the edge, many with large rock armor at the toe of the cliff, but the cliffs here at Calumet Park were protected only by the high, steep gravel berm (unless there is riprap hiding underneath).