“ROCK & ROLLING WAVES”: ROCK EROSION ON ABACO

April 5, 2013 by Rolling Harbour

“ROCK & ROLLING WAVES”: ROCK EROSION ON ABACO

On 26th October 2012, the ‘roof’ of the geological feature at the southern tip of Abaco known for centuries as Hole-in-the-Wall was blasted apart by Hurricane Sandy. The combination of huge waves and powerful winds proved too much for a structure that had existed since the last ice age. I posted in detail about this event last year HERE so now I will concentrate on some geological aspects.

The photo below shows the Hole a year or so before its destruction. At the left-hand end of the bridge there is a paler area underneath where limestone rock had recently fallen into the sea, suggesting an underlying instability. At close quarters there were plenty of cracks in the apparently solid structure. (I’ve no idea why I didn’t straighten the image. Let’s say… Artistic Perspective)

This photo was taken a few days after the collapse, the first to be published of the new view. The clean white rock at either end of the ex-bridge is clearly visible. The section on the left became a new islet at the southern extremity Abaco, separated from the mainland for the first time in history. I proposed various names for it (not all serious) – Sandy Cay (or Isle) was the clear, indeed obvious, winner…

Hole-in-the-Wall Abaco- the new gap Nov 2012

This close-up of the south side of the bridge shows the detail of the rock fragmentation. Tara’s photographs are (as far as I know) the very first of the new gap and of Abaco’s new islet, predating John Haestad’s by a day.

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We recently went to a beach near Crossing Rocks that we had never explored before (plenty of interest there for later posts). We were struck by the fragmented and pitted nature of the limestone rocks on the shoreline. We noticed some pale exposed rock surfaces, similar to those at Hole-in-the-Wall. We watched the incoming waves scouring and undercutting the rocks, leaving overhangs (see video below). Erosion is increased by the double action of the waves. The immediate area hinted that there may even have been a very small Hole at one time. On the day we were there, the sea was gentle. It’s easy to imagine how the hugely destructive force of the wind and crashing waves resulting from hurricanes such as Sandy can eventually shatter solid rock that has been gradually eroded and destabilised over centuries by wave action.

Photo credits as shown / RH. You have Mrs RH to thank for a shorter (50 secs) video than the one I originally made (75 secs). Now I’ve redone the thing, I agree – one wave does look very like the next…

ADDENDUM Just remembered that I took an aerial photo of HitW from the plane the other day. It’s a phone photo through BahamasAir window glass, and I’ve had to tweak it a bit. It shows the relevant area…all the blurry dark stuff is part the pine forest of the National Park

ADDENDUM 2 In response to a comment about the power of hurricanes, here is an image I have posted previously of a large rock some way out from the Delphi beach. Before Hurricane Irene in 2011, it was a solid rectangular slab. This is what it was like after Irene had moved on northwards

HOLE-IN-THE-WALL, ABACO: THE ‘HOLE’ THAT’S NO LONGER A WHOLE

December 9, 2012 by Rolling Harbour

HOLE-IN-THE-WALL, ABACO: THE ‘HOLE’ THAT’S NO LONGER A WHOLE

I recently posted 3 items from different perspectives about Hole-in-the-Wall, the destruction of its “roof” by Hurricane Sandy, and the consequent creation of a small islet (provisional names suggested include ‘Holey Isle’ & ‘Sandy Isle’). I also showed what were apparently the last images of the Hole with its roof on (Jack Bowers); and the first of the new post-Sandy geology taken on November 6th (John Haestad) CLICK HERE. It now transpires that some excellent photos were in fact taken a the previous day, November 5th, when Tara Lavalle and her family went to HitW for an outing and to investigate the reports about the Hole. So the pictures below taken by Tara and Luc (to whom many thanks for use permission) now stand as the first post-Sandy images of the ‘Gap’. Unless anyone knows better…

The lighthouse and outbuildings looking back from the Hole-in-the-Wall route HOLE-IN-THE-WALL LIGHTHOUSE ABACO post Sandy

OMG! Surveying the new scenery HOLE-IN-THE-WALL ABACO post Sandy 2

The water still boils through as before… HOLE-IN-THE-WALL ABACO post Sandy 1

The northern end of the new islet, showing the bright new rock-face. Beyond, Nassau… HOLE-IN-THE-WALL ABACO post Sandy 3

HOLE-IN-THE WALL ABACO: “MIND THE GAP” – A NEW ISLET IS BORN

November 8, 2012 by Rolling Harbour

HOLE-IN-THE WALL ABACO: “MIND THE GAP” – A NEW ISLET IS BORN

17th October 2012

Jack Bowers and friends visited Hole-in-the-Wall and took what are probably the last photos of Hole-in-the-Wall before Hurricane Sandy struck, and the central arch was smashed into the sea – this one below, and others HERE

6th November 2012

Less than 3 weeks later, John Haestad made the same trip towards the end of the promontory. This time, it was different. The arch was gone. Beyond the breach, a new islet, separated from the mainland by a foaming channel. John has kindly given use permission, and you are now looking at what may be the first image of Abaco’s new geography. A feature that had appeared on maps since at least the early c18, been a landmark for marine navigation for centuries, and lent its name to the lighthouse station, has gone forever. A very small island at the southeastern tip of Abaco has been born…

HOLE-IN-THE-WALL PROMONTORY, ABACO
(Since posting this, Jack Bowers has come up with ‘Holy Isle’, which has a certain ring to it…)

ADDITION I have now found a photo by Jennifer Arrington (to whom thanks for use permission) which shows from a helpful angle both the intact Hole and the small tip of land beyond, now an island. Many photographers are understandably drawn to the Hole itself by the time they have trekked across the sharp uneven rocks to get to it. This is one of the few I have found that gives a wider perspective.

HOLE-IN-THE-WALL: THE ‘ISLAND’ BEFORE IT BECAME ONE…

AFTERWORD FROM ROLLING HARBOUR

For an interesting philosophical and metaphysical discussion on whether the collapse of the arch made any sound if there was no one (and / or no living creature) there to hear it, check out IF A TREE FALLS IN A FOREST… but please don’t if that sort of arcane and /or pointless argument drives you mad with irritation

ABACO’S ‘HOLE-IN-THE-WALL’ BEFORE SANDY DEMOLITION: FIRST & LAST EVER IMAGES

November 5, 2012 by Rolling Harbour

ABACO’S HOLE-IN-THE-WALL BEFORE HURRICANE SANDY DESTRUCTION

THE FIRST & LAST EVER IMAGES OF A GEOGRAPHICAL LANDMARK

This post follows on directly from my PREVIOUS POST about Hurricane Sandy’s destruction of Abaco’s Hole-in-the -Wall rock ‘bridge’. Thanks to Abaco resident Jack Bowers, his camera and his kind permission, I am able to show what are almost certainly the very first and the very last pictures of Abaco’s Hole in the Wall aka ‘Hole in the Rock’, the landmark rock formation at the southeastern tip of the island.

THE EARLIEST KNOWN PICTURE OF HOLE-IN-THE-WALL

The earliest picture that I have been able to trace is a fine nautical aquatint dated 1803 by J.Wells based on a shipman’s sketch. There’s more detail about it in the previous post, but for the full details of this picture, its origin, and a very early description of one of Abaco’s best-known features CLICK HOLE-IN-THE-WALL AQUATINT

THE LAST PICTURES EVER TAKEN OF THE HOLE IN THE WALL, ABACO

Jack Bowers and some friends visited Hole-in-the-Wall a week before Hurricane Sandy swept in from the south. He writes “I hiked all around (and foolishly IN) the Hole on 10/17/12, a week before its demise. I may have the last photos taken of various aspects of it, if needed. I noticed some serious cracks (mostly on the proximal side of the arch) and placed my feet carefully away from them, but the collapse did not seem this imminent. I also shot some nice shots of the lighthouse from the distal point of the rocks (a shot not easily obtainable now). Trying to find a positive, the new “Window” should provide some spectacular new splashes that the arch used to largely contain”. Please note that the very fine photos below are all ©Jack Bowers

The ‘Land’s End’ promontory of Abaco, taken from the lighthouse station. The Hole is (was) near the tip.

Looking back to the lighthouse on the hike south

Rough seas ahead… foreshadowing the later rock destruction

A last view of ‘Hole in the Wall’ as it used to look….

The dramatic view from below the arch – it will never be seen like this again…

ABACO’S CHANGED GEOGRAPHY AS FROM 10.24.12 FOR ALL ETERNITY

HOLE-IN-THE-WALL: LATE PLEISTOCENE EPOCH to LATE OCTOBER 2012

Very soon after these photos were taken, the history of the Hole and the geography of Abaco abruptly changed. The weather worsened, Tropical Storm Sandy gathered strength north of Cuba to reach hurricane force, and a week later the rock arch had been simply smashed into the boiling sea by the combined power of wind and the water. It seems unlikely that in the intervening week, with a major storm approaching, anyone else will have made the long rough drive 15 miles along the track to the lighthouse, traversed the difficult terrain of the promontory, risked the increasing winds and swelling seas, and calmly toted a camera at the underside of the arch. So unless and until I hear otherwise, I shall consider Jack’s pictures to be the final record of an Abaco landmark known to sailors for many centuries, mapped by name since 1738 (or earlier), first depicted in 1803 and probably in existence since the last ice-age. R.I.P. (Rest in Pieces)

AFTERWORD: DOES THIS SORT OF THING HAPPEN OFTEN ON ABACO?

Yes. As elsewhere in the Bahamas or indeed any hurricane zone. Here’s an example from last year demonstrating the power of Hurricane Irene, which also scored a direct hit on Abaco. The top photo is a shot of the Delphi Club beach at Rolling Harbour looking south, taken by me in early 2011. I have cropped it to enlarge the view of the large rock in the sea beyond the small bay on the middle left. It’s a substantial, solid, slab visible at all tides.

Hurricane Irene passed directly overhead on August 26 / 27 2011. Here’s my photo taken this year, showing the rock with the centre blasted out during the storm. Impressive damage! (That little piece of foreshore needs a clean-up… most of that stuff looks like plastic junk / nylon rope etc, the sort of detritus that takes a mere century or three to degrade…)