A Brief Geological History of the Sands Along Southern Maine’s Beaches

A distinctive characteristic of the sands along southern Maine’s beaches, extending from York to Biddeford, is that they were derived primarily from glacial till carried south out of Canada and northwestern Maine. The effects of rising sea level and glacial rebound have allowed the persistent working of wave action along the coastline to create our local beaches, each with distinct bodies of sand. We will discuss how, over that past 100,000 years, the forces of nature have shaped our coastal sands. 

Jon Dykstra earned his PhD in geology from Dartmouth College (’78) and has been working in the geologic and mapping applications of earth-observing satellite remote sensing for over 35 years. He spent the summers of his youth along the beaches of southern Maine and has now retired to Kennebunkport with his wife Connie.