Why are the cliffs eroding along the Chesapeake Bay?
Eroding shorelines are a natural feature of the Chesapeake Bay. Geologists indicate that eroding cliffs have been present in the Chesapeake Bay area for thousands of years and that the erosion of these cliffs provides much of the sand supply to the bay beaches there. Eroding shorelines (both eastern and western shorelines) and eroding islands have been well documented and are part of a natural process with a number of contributing factors such as storm events, shoreline soil composition, topography, bathymetry, fetch, surface/groundwater conditions, and manmade impacts such as putting in stabilization measures and surrounding land use.
