Geo 730: October 17, Day 655: Otter Crest Rockfall

This was just a random stop- "Oh, look. A pullout. Let's see what we can see." And as you can see from yesterday's post, there's a nice view overall. But there's also a very nice example of a coastal rockfall. The pounding surf undercut and weakened the headland. Ultimately unable to support itself, a large chunk collapsed into the ocean, leaving an impressive pile of boulders. Coastal landforms, even this resistant block of Columbia River Basalt, are short-lived in such an energetic environment. Of course, "short-lived" is always a relative thing, geologically speaking.

Photo unmodified. July 15, 2014. FlashEarth Location.