Location Geological History Level of Development Additional Facts Profile Data Pictures References

Location

Scarborough Beach is a 2.1 km (Nelson, 1979) fringing beach forming the eastern shore of Prout’s Neck.  The beach is anchored by bedrock at both ends, with no relict spits.  The beach is divided into two provinces based on grain size.  Shooting Rocks, an offshore shoal, shelters part of the beach from waves, producing a cuspate foreland, or seaward-projecting bulge in the beach.  North of the cuspate forelnad, the beach is entirely sandy.  South of the foreland, the beach is composed of sand, gravel and cobbles.  Massacre Pond, a freshwater pond that was formerly a salt water tidal laggon, is located behind the beach and has a broad, cattail dominated fringe. To the north, the marsh narrows and leads into an elongate alder swamp.
 
 

Geological History

Historically, Scarborough Beach is relatively stable, or only slowly eroding.  A salt marsh peat exposure, found behind the beach, indicates that the beach was once an open barrier with a back barrier lagoon and salt marsh (Nelson and Fink, 1980).  Since that time, which may have been over 4,000 years ago, sea level has risen.  The dunes have retreated up and over the old salt marsh, along with the beachface.  The southern 500 m of the dune field fringes on long-stabilized Holocene dune sand of Prouts Neck.  The northern 650 m fringes on higher glacial upland deposits (Nelson, 1979).
 
 
 

Development Status

Scarborough Beach is a state park that remains undeveloped.  A maritime forest exists behind the dunes, along most of the beach (Kelley et al., 1989).  The beach is publicly accessible through the state park entrance, but an entrance fee is required to enter the park from the road.  Dune fences and signs are located along the beach front to keep pedestrians from trampling the fragile grass.  A wooden walkway cuts through the dunes and allows tourists access to the beach.
 
 

Additional Facts

Massacre Pond is one of many freshwater bodies behind barrier beaches.  They were formerly salt marsh lagoons.  This indicates that our beaches grew seaward in the past and converted the salt ponds to freshwater (Duffy et al., 1989).  The reverse is occurring now as sea level is rising more rapidly.
 
 

Topographic Profiles
 
 

Profile 1 Monthly Data Greatest Change Profile 2 Monthly Data Greatest Change Profile 3 Monthly Data Greatest Change Profile 4 Monthly Data Greatest Change

 
 
 

Pictures
 
 
 
 

References

Dickson, S.M., in press, Beach and Dune Geology, Scarborough Beach, Scarborough Beach State Park, Scarborough Maine, Maine Geological Survey Open-File Report (Photo 15-2)

Duffy, W., Belknap, D.F., and Kelley, J.T., 1989, Morphology and Stratigraphy of Small Barrier-Lagoon Systems in Maine, Marine Geology, vol 88, p 243-263.

Kelley, J.T., Kelley, A.R., and Pilkey, O.H., sr., 1989, Living with the Coast of Maine, Duke University Press, Durham, NC, 174 p.

Nelson, B.W., 1979, Shoreline Changes and Physiography of Maine’s Sandy Coastal Beaches [Unpublished M.S. thesis]: University of Maine, 303 p.

Nelson, B.W. and Fink, L.K., Jr., 1978, Geological and Botanical Features of Sand Beach Systems in Maine: Maine Critical Areas Program, Maine State Planning Office Planning Report No. 54, 269 p.