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Rate of Lateral Migration of Adjoining
Sea-Marginal Sedimentary Environments
Shown by Historical Records, Authie Bay, France
Société ELF pour la Recherche et l'Exploitation des Hydrocarbures
ABSTRACT
This study d o c u m e n t s the rate at which lateral
migration of adjoining coastal sedimentary environments
(spit, bay b o t t o m , tidal marsh) has built a vertical succession
of continuous, superimposed, horizontal layers. Thus, the
vertical layers in this succession resulted f r o m lateral rather
t h a n vertical sedimentation. The average rate of migration is
1 k m / 1 0 0 yr based on the locations of retaining dikes built at
known dates as far back as 1597. T h e presumed location
(beyond the oldest retaining dike) of the shore of the bay in
early medieval times extends the record even f u r t h e r .
Figure 1. Map showing present position of shoreline, modern
dunes (stippled areas), and tidal deposits of Authie Bay (heavy line);
former positions of Authie and Berck Bays (dashed line); artificial
dikes and dates of their construction; and position of advancing spit
across mouth of Authie Bay (dotted line). Arrows indicate direction
of migration of adjoining environments (onshore) and longshore
drift (offshore). Data from Briquet (1930) and from aerial photo-
graphs. Inset map of France.
GEOLOGY
J. LeFournier
Centre de Recherche de Boussens
31360 St. Martory, France
Gerald M. Friedman
Department of Geology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, New York 12181
INTRODUCTION
According to the law of superposition, a sequence of
layers is deposited, one layer at a time, with the oldest at the
base and progressively younger layers toward the t o p . Strict
adherence to this " l a w " has resulted in the concept that each
layer is in fact deposited throughout its entire extent before
the next younger layer begins t o accumulate. This kind of
growth of strata has been termed vertical sedimentation. Some
vertical sedimentation does take place, of course. An example
is fallout of a layer of t e p h r a ; also, vertical sedimentation of
pollen enables palynologists to draw time lines at boundaries
of pollen zones. However, it is a misconception t o suppose
that all sedimentary deposits result f r o m vertical sedimenta-
tion. Many sedimentary strata are spread out in succession,
all parts of which migrate laterally together. At any one
time, the environment in which each kind of sediment accu-
mulates may occupy a narrow belt. When the belts migrate,
they leave behind a horizontal succession of strata. Such
spreading is lateral sedimentation.
The idea of lateral sedimentation began with Gilbert's
(1890) discussion of deltas in Lake Bonneville, Utah, and
with F e n n e m a n ' s ( 1 9 0 6 ) analysis of river floodplains. Its
present popularity stems f r o m Van Straaten's work on the
Dutch tidal flats ( 1 9 5 2 , 1961). Subsequently, this idea
gained popularity in many aspects of sedimentary geology;
a few examples include studies of tidal flats (Evans, 1965;
Klein, 1971; Reineck, 1967), rivers (Sundborg, 1956; Bernard
and others, 1962; Allen, 1965), deltas (Scruton, 1960; Gould,
1970), beaches (Bernard and others, 1962; Sanders and
Kumar, 1975), and sequences involving carbonate sediment
(Sanders and F r i e d m a n , 1967).
At any one m o m e n t the environments adjoin one
another, but after migration, continuous layers are formed in
which the products of each environment occur in a fixed
position. Although many examples of migration of adjoining
facies f r o m b o t h modern sedimentary deposits and ancient
rocks have appeared in the literature, only a few rates of
migration have been established f r o m historical data.
DISCUSSION
We present an example of migration of adjoining (side-
by-side) facies based on historical records. The data come f r o m
the Picardy region of the coast of France. In this area, the
sea-marginal deposits are subject to a predominant northward
longshore drift that is driven by tidal currents and southwest
winds. Northward movement of nearshore marine sand causes
spits to advance across the m o u t h s of bays. In o n e such exam-
ple, a spit has advanced across two-thirds of the m o u t h of
Authie Bay and has separated the sediment behind the spit
f r o m the marine environment (Fig. 1). Only at high spring
tide do the waves of the ocean reach across t h e spit into the
bay. T h e sand of t h e spit is exposed t o the atmosphere most
of the time; in fact, cars c o m m o n l y travel across this advanc-
ing spit.
497
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Figure 2. Schematic profile and section along north-south line
south of Authie Bay showing historically dated time lines cutting
diagonally through horizontal strata. A comparable diagram could be
drawn through the spit. (HT = high tide; LT = low tide.)
The advance of the spit has been documented through
historical records that cover almost 400 years and possibly
600 to 700 years. Historical records, gathered by Briquet
(1930), indicate that as the spit advanced and the marsh
sediment accreted northward, the local peasants erected
dikes to claim new land in the intertidal area behind the spit.
Aerial photographs show the exact position of each of four
dikes and morphologic indications of the position of the
terminus of the spit when each dike was built. Authie Bay
was mapped in 1671, and at that time, the southern shore-
line of the bay was located a few hundred meters north of
the dike built in 1597. This old shoreline is now more than
3 km from the equivalent shoreline of the modern bay
(Fig. 2). From the former and present positions of Authie
Bay and from the historical records on the date of construc-
tion of the various dikes, we can compute that the mean rate
of elongation of the spit has been about 1 km/100 yr.
During the early Middle Ages (approximately the 14th cen-
tury), a bay existed about 5 km south of Authie Bay (Briquet,
1930). This 14th-century bay, generally known as the Bay of
Marquenterre, is presumed to be an even earlier site of the
laterally shifting Authie Bay. At present, the northern bank
of Authie Bay, near the town of Berck, is receding despite
efforts to maintain the shoreline. This retreat of the northern
shoreline of Authie Bay is part of the migration of the
adjoining sea-marginal deposits. Berck Bay, shown in Figure 1,
has vanished; it was filled by man.
North and south of Authie Bay are similar bays for
which historical records of the progressive northward erec-
tion of dikes have been recorded (Briquet, 1930). Thus,
migration of Authie Bay is not an isolated phenomenon but
displays a pattern of behavior that affects a large section
(at least 50 km) of the coast of Picardy. The northward
migration of spits is accompanied by a parallel migration of
tidal deposits, including both tidal flats and tidal channels.
In vertical boreholes, spit deposits overlie tidal deposits;
for those steeped in the tradition of the law of superposition
and vertical sedimentation, a change in the nature of sedimen-
tation at the vertical contact between the two kinds of
deposits would seem indicated. In actual fact, both kinds of
deposits adjoin each other and in a vertical profile are essen-
tially contemporaneous.
Rates of lateral sedimentation have been provided only
from a few other areas. Three examples of sites where such
measurements have been based on dated maps include the
western end of Fire Island (off the south coast of Long
Island, New York; Kumar, 1973), Rockaway spit (western
Long Island), and Sandy Hook (along the coast of New Jer-
sey; Sanders, 1970). The rate of lateral migration along both
spits on the Long Island coast is 65 m/yr, thus exceeding 6.5
times the rate of lateral migration along the coast of Picardy.
The rate of growth of Sandy Hook has been about 12 m/yr,
nearly the same as on the Picardy coast. The lateral migra-
498
tion of streams is at a much faster rate, between 30 and
80 m/yr in recorded examples (Wolman and Leopold, 1957).
In contrast to these few determinations of lateral sedi-
mentation, nearly every modern investigation of deep-sea
sediment attempts to determine rates of vertical sedimenta-
tion. Most of these rates are a few centimeters per thousand
years; a very rapid rate is 10 cm/1,000 yr (Lisitzin, 1972).
The rate of lateral sedimentation in Authie Bay is 10 6 as fast
as this fast rate of pelagic vertical sedimentation. In recorded
examples, streams in flood have shown a rate of vertical
accretion between 2 and 25 mm/yr (Wolman and Leopold,
1957).
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Reviewed by J. Etienne, G. deVries Klein, and J. E. Sanders.
P. R o b e r t supervised the logistics and coordination in t h e
field. J. Etienne, B. Housse, P. Robert, and L. Yapaudjian partici-
pated in this study and provided stimulation and discussion that
helped shape the concepts expressed in this paper.
MANUSCRIPT RECEIVED MAY 23, 1974
MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTED AUGUST 9, 1974
GEOLOGY