What benefits, if any, come with the coastal erosion on Cape Cod?
Coastal erosion, sand transport, and deposition are the natural processes that are responsible for the Cape as we know it. Without these processes there would be no beaches, no barrier islands or barrier spits, and no sea cliffs. Without them there would be fewer sheltered harbors, bays, lagoons, and salt marshes. The dunes of Provincetown and Sandy Neck, near Barnstable, would not exist. • In the book Cape Cod and the Islands, The Geologic Story, you say “…much can be done now to preserve what is left (the Cape and Islands) and, in many cases, to restore the natural environment and to begin a much-needed process of healing…” What is your feeling about what can be done today to save Cape Cod? I made this statement first in a contribution to a book on the natural history of the Cape and Islands (Oldale, 1990, p. 26) and more recently in a book on the geology of the Cape and Islands (Oldale, 1992, p. 168). Both times, I meant that we can restore and preserve what pleases us about Cap
