Figure 45. Evolution of Nearshore Ramps. The upper panel depicts the seafloor shortly after glaciers have left, and the ocean level is 80 m deeper than today. Glacial-marine mud mantles most of the seafloor. In the middle panel, the seafloor has isostatically rebounded following melting of the ice, and the relative position of sea level has fallen 60 m. Some of the glacial sediment was eroded by streams during emergence, but stream sediment was also deposited during regression. In the lower panel, sea level has risen to its present position and drowned the Nearshore Ramp. A landward-thickening wedge of sand marks the inland migration of beaches and dunes during the ongoing transgression.

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Last updated on October 6, 2005

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