Plymouth/Duxbury/Wareham = Cape Cod?

We did an article on Where Cape Cod Ends a while ago.

The basic answers are:

- Cape Cod Canal

- The western border of Barnstable County, which includes mainland parts (Buzzards Bay, Bournedale, Sagamore/Scusset Beach) of Bourne and Sandwich

- A "gateway" version of the mainland answer, expanded to include Wareham

- A more fun, snobby answer of "once you cross the Bass River."

Most people buy the first one. The second one has many proponents, and the third one has support as well. You don't have to cover Cape Cod for long to see the logic of the last one, which moves along the lines of "When someone thinks of Cape Cod, they're thinking of the Outer Cape."

We spammed the article all over Facebook's Cape Cod groups. 99.9% of commenters were in one of those 4 camps.

One guy was not in those 4 camps. He was/is a geologist. He insisted that- geologically- Cape Cod actually includes Wareham. It also includes most of Plymouth and all of Duxbury Beach. There may be some Marion and Rochester, too... I don't see it on the map, but I seem to recall the geologist guy saying something to that effect.

Cape Cod and Massachusetts sit on bedrock. Massachusetts is composed of several sorts of bedrock, which run north-to-south.

Cape Cod sits on a bed of granitoids, principally Quartz. The "Qp" on the map above means "polycrystalline quartz." If you find some Quartz on the beach, it was locally grown.

This Quartz eventually runs into some Zinc once you get out of Plymouth. The Zinc supports the South Coast and the Irish Riviera, then turns into some mineral with a P for western Plymouth County and northern Bristol County.

A cape (geographic cape, not the one Batman wears) is a headland that sticks out into the water. A bay is surrounded on 3 sides by land, while a cape is surrounded by water on 3 sides.

Bays are created by water eroding looser material like sand, leaving  the stronger material behind. Capes are created the same way. They are both part of a gradual straightening of the coastline.

But this doesn't answer the question in the headline. Are Plymouth and Duxbury Beach part of Cape Cod?

Taking the boundary options from the beginning of the article, the answers seem to be in the phrasing of the questions.

Using the Cape Cod Canal as the boundary is the Simple answer. I favored this one before I moved to Buzzards Bay.

Using Barnstable County (including mainland Bourne and Sandwich) as the boundary is the Political answer. This was my answer once I started living in Buzzards Bay, although it is very parochial on my part.

Using mainland Barnstable County and including Wareham is the Traditional answer. I can understand this one, although I enjoy the Lady Yelling At A Cat meme where the drunk lady screams "I'm from Cape Cod!" and Smudge the Cat (named after a famous British cat, I believe) looks up from his salad and says, "You're from Wareham."

Using the Bass River as a boundary is the Exclusive answer. I grew up in Duxbury, and while I am more White Trash than preppy, I have an internal tendency towards Snobbery which may cloud my judgement on this one. I find this theory to be too enjoyable to fully dismiss it.

Including Wareham, Plymouth and Duxbury Beach is the Geological answer. Keep in mind that while I did work one very unqualified year as a high school Science teacher, I got into Journalism as a sports-betting columnist, and you should keep that in mind when I start speaking about Geology. When I drop Science, it literally hits the floor.

In the end, Cape Cod, Plymouth, Wareham and Duxbury Beach are more of a (stealing a name from a defunct local band) Feel Thing than anything that can be defined by Science or a Cape League baseball team. We hope that we have given you ample ammunition for whichever argument you choose to make.