Thursday, October 08, 2015

Point No Point



Point No Point is an important landmark - the southernmost of three prominent points that mark the western entrance into Admiralty Inlet and Puget Sound. Point Wilson in Port Townsend. Marrowstone Point. And Point No Point. Each has a small lighthouse. Each is a cuspate foreland.

AERIAL VIEW

Cuspate forelands are triangular landforms that typically form where wave action approaches from two different directions. Longshore transport moves sediment toward the point from each direction, resulting in an accumulation of material and the growth of the feature. Sand and gravel may accrete on one limb or the other of the landform, or may be lost off the tip into deep water.

The old t-sheets show a tidal inlet on the north side, serving a large wetland behind the beach homes along Point No Point and Norwegian Point (which is basically a western continuation of the same barrier beach). The wetland is now broken up by development and drainage systems and the open tidal channel to the north has been replaced by a pipe and tide gate on the east.

On this visit, there was a distinct scarp high on the beach where recent wave action had dropped the sandy beachface half a foot or so.

The Point offers great views of Puget Sound to both north and south. Mount Rainier and the high rises of Seattle are visible to the south. Mount Baker rises over Whidbey Island to the northeast.


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