INTRODUCTION

A wave is an oscillation accompanied by a transfer of energy when wind blows over the surface of water. As
waves approach the coastline they have a significant impact on it. Waves build up and destroy coastlines, the
stronger the wind, the more frequent the wave is and destructive. As a result of their actions through the
process of erosion, transportation and deposition numerous features are formed such as cave, arches, stump,
stack and wave cut platform are formed .The size of a wave is influenced by the strength of the wind and
how long the wind has being blowing. Due to wave processes, numerous coastal features are formed at coast
from Robins Bay to Mammee Bay, St. Mary, Jamaica.

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 AIM OF THE STUDY

The aim of the study is to identify and describe the effects of wave processes and rock
structure aid in formation/development of coastal features from Robins Bay to Mammee
Bay, St. Mary, Jamaica.

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1. Map 1 of Jamaica/ Situation Map

Map 1 of Jamaica highlighting the parish where the study was conducted and its capital.

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2. Site Map/ Map of study area

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Map 2 showing the study area visited: Peytons Point to Don Christopher Cover in Robins
Bay, St. Mary, Jamaica.

METHODOLOGY

When: The trip to Robin’s Bay was on Friday, April 7, 2017.

Where: Areas that the studies were conducted were Don Christopher’s Cove and Peyton Cove, St. Mary.

How: A worksheet was used to collect data at the different stops. On arriving at our destination the wave frequency,

the rocks and the wave height were observed. Wave frequency is how many waves break on the shore per minute. The

wave frequency was calculated first. The wave frequency was calculated by counting the number of waves that

occurred on the shore over a one minute period. This helped to determine the type of wave if it is a destructive

wave or a constructive wave. The number of waves observed during the minute was divided by sixty to get the

wave period. The wave height was calculated by finding the difference between the trough and the crest. In order to

get this information, two students were asked to stand in the water and tell the other students the lowest and highest

point of the wave using a meter ruler. The meter rule was used to give accurate reading of the size of the crest,

trough, the wave height and the length of the wave was measured with a tape measure. Four other trials were

done for the wave height and frequency to check for accuracy.  Students were asked to collect thirty different rocks

from the shore be sandstone, shale, Igneous or lime stone. The rocks were inspected thoroughly and the students

and teachers assessed them. The rock’s shape and type were recorded and also the long and short axis, which was

found by using a centimeter ruler. The same procedure was done at Don Christopher’s Cove. Pictures was also

taken at the locations visited. Also text books and the internet was used to obtain additional information.

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 ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF DATA

A wave has various processes such as Erosion, Deposition and Transportation.

Erosion
According to Frances (2017) Erosion is the process that breaks things down which forms most of the coastal
features from Robins Bay to Mammee Bay. Process that fall under erosion is:

 Hydraulic action
 Solution
 Attrition 
 Saltation
According to Nelson (2008):

Hydraulic action involves the sheer power of the water as it smashes into a cliff. Most generally it is the
ability of moving water (flowing of waves) to dislodge and transport rock particles.

Solution is when some rocks at the coast are especially vulnerable to being dissolved by sea water
especially limestones which forms the headland at Peyton Point in photo 1.

Abrasion involves fragments of rock being picked up and hurled the sea at a cliff. Rocks moving across a
rocky platform will scrape it smooth.

Attrition is the process where pieces of rock are transported through water and wear down the shore bed
over time as a result of friction. Gravel or other small stones are often carried through a current and then
come into contact with the sides and bottom of the water body.

Transportation
This is the movement of material from one place to another which results in different types of rocks being
found in table ** such as limestone, shale at the coastline of Peyton’s Cove and Don Christopher’s Cove.
Process that fall under transportation are:

 Saltation
 Suspension
 Traction
According to Nelson (2008) these processes are define as

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Saltation is where small pebbles and stones are bounced along the river bed.

Suspension is lighter particles that can be picked up and carried within the water eg: Sand

Traction is where heavier particles are slowly rolled along the sea bed

Deposition
This is the process where materials transported are deposited.

HEADLANDS

Headlands were both located at Peyton’s Cove and Don Christopher’s Cove. As stated by ***
Headlands are formed when the sea attacks a section of coast with alternating bands of hard and soft rock.
The bands of soft rock such as sand and clay, erode more quickly than those of more resistant rock such as
chalk. This leaves a section of land jutting out into the sea called a headland. These headlands where made
from mainly limestone and shale and as a result of that erosion took place in various places.

HEADLAND

In photo 1.0 shows a headland found at Peyton’s Point.

After analyzing the two headlands found at the sites of Peyton’s Cove and Don Christopher’s Cove. It was
observed that the one at Peyton’s Cove was made from the rock of lime stone. The rock type count done
along this cove shows that there are limestones located at the site which is also shown in the graph 1.3

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 WAVE CUT PLATFORM

A wave-cut platform, coastal benches, or wave-cut benches is the narrow flat area often found at the base of
a sea cliff or along the shoreline of a lake, bay, or sea that was created by [citation needed] the erosion of
waves. There was a large wave cut platform located at Don Christopher’s Cove , wave cut platform are
formed when destructive waves hits against the cliff face, causing under cutting between the high and low
water marks, mainly as a result of erosion and hydraulic power creating a wave cut platform notch . This
notch then enlarges into a cave. Destructive waves are created in storm conditions. They are created from
big waves when the wind is powerful and has been blowing for a long time.

Photo 1.1 showing a wave cut platform located at Don Christopher’s Cove.

The wave cut plat form at Don Christopher’s cove plays significant part, which allows the coast to
having a wide beach. Wave cut platform protects the coastline from erosion of its size.

The wave count that which was done at Don Christopher’s Cove has showed that there were
destructive waves present at the site. Here is the data collected

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 STACK

A stack is formed through the process of erosion. A stack or sea stack is a geological landform consisting of
a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, formed by wave erosion. Stacks
are formed over time by wind and water, processes of coastal geomorphology. Overtime the roof of the arch
will become too heavy to be supported and it will collapse, the isolated portion which remains is called a
stack. The stack is undercut and collapses to leave a stump. When the arch collapses, it leaves the headland
on one side and a stack (a tall column of rock) on the other. The stack will be attacked at the base in the
same way that a wave-cut notch is formed. This weakens the structure and it will eventually collapse to form
a stump. Photos 4 shows the stack located at Peyton’s Cove while photo 5 shows stump found at Peyton’s
cove.

Photo 1.2 Showing a stack located at Peyton’s Cove, St. Mary, Jamaica

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 STUMP

This photograph represents at stump found at Peyton’s Cove indicated by the arrow. From
observations accompanied by researches, this stump was formed from the breaking off of a
previously existing stack due to wave processes such as hydraulic actions which caused the stack to
wear away and fall off leaving in its position a flat base known as a stump.

Photo 1.3 showing a stump located at Peyton’s Cove, St. Mary, Jamaica

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 Deposional Features
Beaches
Beaches are a depositional feature which forms the buffer between land and sea. Beaches are made from

eroded material that has been transported from elsewhere and deposited by the sea. They have 3 main

components, the nearshore (where the land begins to affect the sea), the foreshore (surf zone) and the

backshore (usually above the high tide mark). The backshore typically features the material deposited by

storm waves. The gradient of the beach tends to change during the year. Beaches are typically steeper in

summer. This is because constructive waves are more common in summer, but destructive waves are more

common in winter.

The strong swash of a constructive wave deposits the largest material at the top of the beach. As the upper

beach builds up, the backwash becomes even weaker because a greater proportion of the water drains away

by percolation, rather than running down the beach.

The beach at Don Christopher’s cove was made up of the different types of rock shown in the graph 1.3.

Graph 1.0 shows data of the size of rocks at Don Christopher’s Cove which proves that there is constructive

waves occurring on the beach.

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 ROCK SIZE FOR DON CHRISTOPHER'S
COVE
12

10

6
SHORT AXIS (CM)

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
LONG AXIS (CM)
Graph 1.0 showing the rock size found at the coast of Don Christopher’s Cove

The graph shows that there are mostly smaller rocks at Don Christopher’s Cove
because it’s a sandy because and a sandy beach contain smaller rocks comparing to a
shingle beach.
Most of the rocks are between 3-7 cm long and 2-6 cm short. Two of the rocks are
larger than the others which measures 12 cm long
The wave at Don Christopher’s Cove is constructive which results in more smaller
rocks being there than larger ones and the swash at a constructive wave is stronger
which brings the smaller rocks which are easier to carry by the water.

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 ROCK SIZE OF PEYTON COVE
16
14
12
10
8 SHORT AXIS
SHORT AXIS (CM)
6
4
2
0
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
LONG AXIS (CM)

Graph 1.1 showing the size of rocks at Peyton’s Cove.

There are mainly larger rocks at Peyton’s Cove because it is a shingle beach and a shingle beaches

are armored with large rocks in comparison to a sandy beach. Most of the rocks are between 4-15 cm

long and 2-10 cm short. There is one rock that is larger than the others which measures 18 cm long

and 14 com short.

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 ROCK SHAPE

ANGLUAR

SUB ROUNDED

ROCK SHAPE SUB ANGULAR ROCK SHAPE

PEYTON COVE
WELL ROUNDED ROCK SHAPE
DON
CHRISPHOER'S
ROUNDED

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
NUMBER OF ROCKS

Graph 1.2 shows the shape of rocks at Peyton’s Cove and Don Christopher’s Cove

There are equal amount of rounded rocks at both locations. However, there are more well-rounded

rocks at Peyton’s Cove than Don Christopher’s Cove mainly because Peyton’s Cove has constructive

waves and angular rocks are associated with those waves. In addition to that there are equal amount

of rounded rocks at both locations.

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 ROCK TYPE
VOLCANIC

LIME STONE

Rock Type ROCK TYPE PEYTON COVE

SAND STONE
ROCK TYPE DON
CHRISTOPHER'S COVE
SHALE

0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Number of Rocks

The graph 1.3 shows the number of the different types of rock at Don Christopher’s and Peyton’s
Cove.

More limestone rocks were found at Don Christopher’s Cove and less was found at Peyton’s Cove.

However, this explains photo 1.0 where is was observed that the headland at Peyton’s Cove was

made from the rock of limestones due to the type of rocks that were found along the coastline. There

were equal amount of volcanic rocks found at both locations.

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 A Table Showing the Wave Frequency at Don Christopher's Cove
Time (s) Number of waves Period (s)
60 11 0.18
60 9 0.15
60 7 0.12
60 9 0.15
60 7 0.12
Table 1.0 showing the wave frequency at Don Christopher’s Cove

From the data collected, it proves that the waves at Don Christopher’s Cove are constructive waves because

the number of waves occurring in a minute doesn’t have difference between them and the waves are not

coming rapidly after the other. The difference between the numbers of waves is observed to be two so the

wave is said to be constructive. The difference between the periods is three.

A Table Showing the Height of Waves at Don Christopher’s Cove

Crest Trough Height
100 70 0.3
90 60 0.3
59 42 0.17
96 70 0.26
101 51 0.5
Table 1.1 showing the height of waves at Don Christopher’s Cove

The waves occurring at Don Christopher’s Cove is observed to be constructive because the data shows that

they are low in height.

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 A Table Showing the Waves Frequency at Peyton's Cove
Time (s) Number of waves Period (s)
60 17 0.28
60 12 0.20
60 12 0.20
60 11 0.18
60 14 0.23
Table 1.2 showing the wave frequency at Peyton’s Cove

The data in this table shows that the waves at Peyton’s Cove are destructive because they are coming more

in a 60 second period. The waves are coming rapidly after the other.

A Table Showing the Height of Waves at Peyton's Cove

Crest Trough Height
80 58 0.22
90 52 0.38
93 51 0.42
87 57 0.30
83 50 0.32
Table 1.3 showing the height of waves at Peyton’s Cove

These waves are observed to be destructive because they are high in height as shown in the table. The

difference between the first, second and third observation is 16.

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 Conclusion

A coastline or sea shore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. The coastline of Jamaica is being

approached daily by waves that either help to build up the coastline itself (Constructive waves) or destroys

the coastline (Destructive Waves).

From Robin’s Bay to Mammee, St. Mary where this S.B.A was conducted, numerous different coastal

landforms were seen. These landforms includes

 Headlands.

 Wave-cut platforms.

 Stacks.

 Stumps.

 Beaches.

Most of these landforms are erosional landforms which were created by destructive waves. The other

landforms are depositional landforms which were created by constructive waves. Coastal processes such as

hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition, solution, suspension and traction contributes to the development of

these features. Robin’s bay is under some serious level of erosion and mainly made up of limestone rocks

and has both hard and soft rock.

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