Whitman's Lives

Beachrock formation in temperate coastlines: Examples in sand-gravel beaches adjacent to the Nerbioi-Ibaizabal Estuary (Bilbao, Bay of Biscay, North of Spain)

“…Documentation about the beachrock phenomenon reveals that it mainly occurs along warm equatorial-tropical coasts [5,6,12,[16][17][18][19][20]. Additionally, there are significant evidences about beachrock formations in the subtropical region to temperate eastern Mediterranean [21][22][23] and it has also been observed at temperate settings, where the seawater tends to be subsaturated with respect to CaCO 3 [24][25][26].…”

“…A series of physico-chemical [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] and biologically induced processes [5,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15] have been invoked to explain such rapid carbonate cementation. Among others, the most popular and best documented are the CO 2 degassing of agitated marine waters soaking the beach, the mixing of meteoric and marine waters as well as the significant chemical changes associated to decay of organic matter.…”