Map Parameters for Correlation of Marine Terraces in California
A map study of marine terraces in California, especially between Laguna Beach and Ocean-side, has developed two parameters for correlation termed the “platform-cliff ratio” and the “dissection percentage.” The platform-cliff ratio is the width of the marine platform divided by the height of the onlooking sea cliff. The dissection percentage involves the area of the terrace-remnant platform that has been consumed by subaerial dissection. Application of these parameters strongly suggests that the lower two or three terraces, at the sites studied, are correlative. The intermediate terrace has the most distinctive character, and it may subsequently prove to be a useful reference horizon for terrace correlation over greater distances along the coast.