The Smuggler's Cove Field Trip Stop
This site is often visited by the CSULB Field Geology class because it contains a number of examples
of significant geologic features.
Smuggler's Cove is nestled between Inspiration Point to the east
and Portuguese Point toward the west.
A minor fault runs
through the rocks at Portuguese Point. This fracture in the bedrock is where local sections of Earth's crust have moved past one other, grinding rocks at the contact into a fine powder called fault
gouge. Fault gouge is easily removed by erosion. At Portuguese Point, waves eroded some of the fault
gouge, creating a tunnel through the base of the point.
Upon closer inspection, the fault looks
like this:
Here the previous picture has been altered to clarify the
location of the fault:
The following picture was taken just east of the fault, at the tip of Portuguese Point
during a low tide. It shows a marine (or wave-cut) platform that is currently being created.
As ocean waves erode the coast, they carve relatively flat surfaces out of the bedrock.
Tectonic forces may then uplift the marine platforms,
forming marine terraces that rest high above sea level.
Palos Verdes Peninsula has been steadily pushed out of the Pacific Ocean over the past 1.5 or so million years,
producing numerous marine terraces that can be seen on all sides of the peninsula. This process has produced a complex series of terraces that appear to be grouped into
13 major levels. The picture below, taken from atop
Inspiration Point, shows several of the more recently formed marine terraces.
This sea cave is at Inspiration Point.
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