The Bare and Bended Arm, Geology of Cape Cod - Wellfleet, MA
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 41° 54.800 W 069° 58.307
19T E 419409 N 4640610
This sign near the edge of the sand bluff facing the Atlantic Ocean discusses the geology of Cape Cod at a vantage point where you can view much of the lower cape topolography.
Waymark Code: WMFGA8
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 10/15/2012
Views: 11
In Wellfleet, near the historic location of the Marconi Station and within the Cape Cod National Seashore, is this sign at a vantage point that discusses the geology of Cape Cod.
The sign is at the end of Marconi Station Road, which is off US 6. The road is also the way to the Headquarters to the national seashore, which you will pass on your left. At the end, there is a parking lot. Walk a short path to the vantage point on the right.
The sign states the following:
"[Logo for Cape Cod National Seashore] The Bared and Bended Arm
[Quote on right side] 'There I had got the Cape under me, as much as if I were riding it bare-backed. It was not as on a map or seen from a stage coach; but there I found it all out-of-doors, huge and real, Cape Cod!' Cape Cod, Henry David Thoreau 1865
[Left Column]
Thoreau called it the 'bared and bended arm of Massachusetts.' At this point you are midway between the elbow. On your left lies Cape Cod Bay and the mainland. On your right, the open sea.
This is the narrowest section of the Cape. From the ocean breakers to the estuary of the Blackfish Creek on the bay side, it's only one mile (1.6 km).
Geologically speaking, the landscape of Cape Cod is very young, a product of ice age glaciers which deposited vast valunes of rock, sand, and clay here only about 15,000 years ago. Today the Cape is slowly diminishing, as waves and winds dissipate its sands into the ocean an bay.
What Cape Cod Is Made Of
[red-brown square] Glacial moraine - Rocks of various sizes deposited when the ice melted near the edges of the glaciers.
[brown square] Glacial outwash - Chiefly sand and gravel carried from the decaying glaciers by meltwater streams and deposited in gently sloping plains.
[yellow square] Sandpits and Dunes - Bodies of sand which grow length and height as waves and winds transport and deposit sand along the shore. These relatively modern features continue to grow today.
Small arrows on the map show the net direction of sandpit growth.
[Middle Column]
[A map of the Cape, showing the main geologic features in the colors in the legend to the left, relative to your position, shown with a dot and callout. In particular, the glacial morraine is the 'V'-shaped feature that has the point around the Cape Cod Canal and a leg extending east and another extending south.]
[Right Column]
Cape Cod is made entirely of rocks carried here by glacial ice.
[Photo of a boulder]
Glacial erratic boulder
[Photo of layered material]
Beach sand
[Photo of grains of sand, magnified]"
Certainly, the Cape is too large to be viewed from one vantage point. As you leave this area and travel on, try to view the Cape from the concepts on the sign.
Waymark is confirmed to be publicly accessible: yes
Access fee (In local currency): .00
Requires a high clearance vehicle to visit.: no
Requires 4x4 vehicle to visit.: no
Website reference: [Web Link]
Parking Coordinates: Not Listed
Public Transport available: Not Listed
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Visit Instructions:
No specific requirements, just have fun visiting the waymark.