Whites Point Recumbent Fold
Posted by: TerryDad2
N 33° 43.104 W 118° 19.273
11S E 377583 N 3731717
A wonderful example of a recumbent fold in the Altamira Shale is exposed in the cliffs of Whites Point.
Waymark Code: WM81Z9
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 01/11/2010
Views: 8
Free parking is available along the street. Paid and closer parking is available in the parking lot at the top of the cliff or in the parking area at the bottom of the cliff. This is a popular place on weekends, so mid-day parking is difficult to find.
These layers of rock began as horizontal layers of sediment. It is thought that these layers of sediment slid down a slight incline and piled up on some basalt outcrops to the southwest and began folding. This could be likened to pushing a pile of paper down a slope into a wall. More and more sediment piled up folding the folds into complicated patterns. Later the sediments were sufficiently compacted that they became rock.
Folds are classified by orientation of their limbs and axis. The limbs are the two sides. Where the two limbs meet is called the hinge and the plane connecting all the hinges together is called the fold axis.
This example has been classified as a recumbent fold. In this type of fold, the axis of the fold has been tipped over and is almost horizontal.
The above information was compiled from the following sources:
Prof. Stephen A. Nelson, Tulane University (
visit link) last updated on 17-Sep-2003 (images are from this page)
Brown, Dick; Whites Point, Royal Palms Drive, San Pedro, CA in A Day on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Arthur Brown and John Cooper Editors, Pacific Section SEPM, October 7, 2006