Chimacum Beach

Another site that I revisit frequently. The spit has continued to consolidate - the earlier second channel across the berm has vanished and the outlet is now clearly established at the northern end of the nascent lagoon. The berm/spit has widened with the accretion of a new berm seaward of the original berm crest. I don't see much evidence the that the berm has increased in height - maybe we need more gravel and a big storm to do that. Tidal currents have transported sand into the mouth of the lagoon, forming a small flood-tide delta. Organic material is continuing to accumulate in the lagoon and high marsh? vegetation is beginning to establish on the higher margins of the lagoon.

Schedule and lack of foresight are poor excuses, but I really should have worked harder to encourage some rigorous monitoring and surveying of this site. I suspect there are some valuable lessons about beach development, barrier lagoon dynamics, and salt marsh restoration in the evolution of this site. I know some folks are monitoring some elements of this - but they are probably focused more on fish use and coarse-scale landform change - not the details of morphology or of habitat formation.