South Ferry Point

I'm taking a stab and calling this feature (the landform itself) South Ferry Point. It's the best I can do based on the USGS and NOAA charts. It's at the end of South Ferry Road, just north of Narragansett. And I think (another stab) that this may go back to its early role as the western landing for a ferry to Jamestown (Conanicut Island). It's now the Bay Campus of the University of Rhode Island, home to the School of Oceanography (and its research vessel Endeavor), Sea Grant, and an EPA office. So I'm sure there are folks who know what to call this place much better than I. And probably people who have actually studied the beach - not just inferred a story from a quick visit and some aerial imagery!

AERIAL VIEW

This small point of land appears to be a cuspate foreland or recurved spit. Much like the landform in the previous post, it appears to me to be most strongly influenced by southerly waves, with a very coarse southern limb and a sheltered northern side, with a gravel beach transitioning to a much sandier one. Modifications to the point have significantly altered both the shape of the feature and the free movement of sediment around the point, so I can only guess at its original appearance.

The south shore is a steep cobble beach, with rubble that suggests past human efforts to battle erosion. The north side is segmented with a groin, further dividing the beach into somewhat distinct (isolated) reaches.

This is the first of a whole bunch of fairly short (at least that's the plan) posts from the southern coast of Rhode Island, all dating to a very chilly day two weeks ago (Friday, November 10th).