Wind and riprap

As you round the corner, you may be welcomed by a gust of wind. From April to September, as hot air rises in the valley of California, cool coastal air is dragged in to replace it. This pull generates a steady onshore wind from the Pacific Ocean. Wind is named by its source direction, so we call these winds westerlies. Westerly winds are also responsible for pulling in the coastal fog that blankets Berkeley and other coastal ecosystems during the summer months, giving relief to a parched landscape. During winter months, inland California remains cool and the westerly winds become inconsistent, and storm systems produce variable gusts and rainfall. Before colonization, the undeveloped, naturally eroded coastlines of the tule marshes created a natural wind and storm buffer for people living at sea level. It is estimated that over 95% of the original Bay Area marshland has been lost to draining, conversion to agriculture, and development.

The shoreline of the bay is constantly shifting position as a result of erosion and changing sea levels. The force of the tides, wind-generated waves, and storm surges relentlessly pressure the shorelines. The boulders along the shoreline throughout this marina have been placed here to prevent erosion and hold the shape of the banks. These boulders are called riprap and give us another view of the deconstructed city that is also buried beneath the Brickyard landfill. Scanning the riprap you may find volcanic rock that was quarried from Sibley Volcanic Park just a few miles south of Berkeley. Blue and red sandstones were hauled from Mount Saint Helena in the Napa Valley, and colossal cubes of granite are also visible, with an origin story far to the east in the Sierra Nevada.

The shoreline is an important feature of aquatic ecosystems. It is the interface between terrestrial and aquatic worlds. Riprap provides habitat to some organisms, like chitons, limpets, and barnacles that anchor themselves to the surfaces. But the riprap also eliminates the habitat of other organisms, such as the aquatic plants that grow only in shallow water, or the terrestrial animals that forage on the tidal mudflats. As such, the placement of riprap is one of the many ways that humans alter the bay and its ecosystem, to control a Golem that is inherently fluid, moody, and powerful.