Bahamian Coastal Geoarchaeology at Light Speed: Insights From High-Frequency GPR Imaging

Nature and Distribution of Beach Ridges on the Islands of the Greater Caribbean

“…This differentiation may not be crucial, however, since Mauz et al [68] propose a new conceptualisation that sees the beach ridge as a composite (or complex) landform with a landward foredune component and seaward shallow marine facies. This may help reconcile terminology, for example, in The Bahamas, where dunes and eolianites are widely distributed [40], but beach ridges have only recently been reported [7,42].…”

“…Brooke's global review of carbonate aeolianites [40] identifies twelve sites in The Bahamas, but does not differentiate the Holocene and Pleistocene aeolianites. Recently, Buynevich et al [42] okreported strandplains comprising 10-20 ridges on Eulethera and Little Exuma. The wavelain component of these ridges have been identified in GPR records, and some erosional surfaces have been recorded.…”

“…Five main hypotheses are discussed in the literature for beach ridge genesis: break point bar development [4], storm swash run-up [51], longshore drift bar development [8], the redistribution of storm sediments [45] and a combination of them all [8]. Beach ridges are generally considered to represent long periods of accumulation associated with a large sediment supply (fairweather conditions) punctuated by erosional events associated with storms that erode ridges [10,42,52]. In this study, the fact that some areas of high beach ridge abundance coincide with storm density is a good argument for cause and effect.…”

“…Park [56] (p. 802) noted that "The Bahamas are struck by more hurricanes than any other area in the Caribbean Basin". Little research has been conducted on storm deposits in The Bahamas, but the presence of erosional surfaces in the GPR profiles reported by Buynevich et al [42,57,58] have been interpreted as evidence that storm activity causes periodic shoreline erosion on beach ridge plains.…”