La Jolla, California

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La Jolla, California
La Jolla, California has a beach environment
typical of the west coast of the United States.
Here, a small cove with an offshore submarine
canyon (a deep underwater valley) is shown. The
east coast has a broader continental shelf.
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Scripps Institute of Oceanography
This is the worlds most famous oceanographic
institute, located in LaJolla, north of San Diego.
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Scripps Pier
Oceanographers dock their research vessels on
this pier.
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Torrey Pines State Park
This is a typical view from atop the wave cut
cliffs at Torrey Pines State Park, near La Jolla,
CA. For a small entrance fee, Visitors can hike
on paths on this scenic cliffs.
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La Jolla Wave-cut Cliff
In the distance we see a wave-cut cliff a
cliff carved out on emergent coasts by wave
erosive action.
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Wave-cut Cliff (2)
Here we see a section of the wave-cut cliff
closer up. Notice how the waves are eroding the
bottom part of the cliff. The lighter
colored rock is an ancient sand dune which has
been turned into a sedimentary rock called
sandstone.
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La Jolla Headlands
Here are pictured headlands jutting out to the
Pacific Ocean. These points are most subject to
the erosive attack of the waves and eventually
will get totally eaten away and turned into beach
sand. The sand will then be transported
to nearby beaches such as the one in the
foreground here.
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La Jolla Erosion
Here we see waves attacking and eroding rocks
jutting out to sea. Notice how rounded the rocks
are. These rocks are eventually broken down into
beach sands.
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La Jolla Sea Stack
Notice in this view that the ends of the
headlands have been totally separated from the
mainland. The wave erosion has carved the
headlands out to the point where obvious
remnants exist as small islets, or sea stacks.
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La Jolla Sea Stack (2)
This is a close up view of sea stacks at La
Jolla. You can see the waves eating away at
what was formerly a headland area.
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La Jolla Beach Cove
In this view , we see a closeup of a beach
cove at La Jolla. Notice that this area is
protected from the heavy erosive action of the
waves, and hence the beach sand is
deposited here.