Emmett F. Urquhart

Kings and Hartling Bays are typical of many exposed inlets with bayhead beaches which are prevalent along the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia. The present morphology of these two bays is a result of Pleistocene glaciation and subsequent Holocene transgression. Kings Bay differs from Hartling Bay in that it has a negligible sediment input while Hartling Bay has actively eroding drumlins. This greatly influences the sediment budgets for these bays. As the sea level continues to rise, (20 cm/century) the amount of sediment input will become increasingly important to predict the rate at which the beaches will retreat.

A scanning electron microscopy study of quartz surface textures appears to indicate that over one third of the grains examined had undergone diagenesis. Similar criteria were used with some success to identify eolian grains associated with relict beach systems in Hartling Bay.

It has been concluded that at about 7000 B.P., the present day Hartling Bay was a semi-restricted lagoon which backed a seaward barrier beach system. Evidence supporting such a theory involves extrapolation of the rise in sea level over the past 14000 years. Other evidence includes the presence of in situ brackish-water peat indicating a paleo-high water mark and a sample of muddy reducing sediment which was inferred to be a relict of the former lagoon.

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Pages: 126
Supervisor:  D. J. W. Piper