I named this post that due to the lack of any better I can think of and indeed that is what I want
to address. Any beach is a very geologically active environment, Wind, waves, currents, mankind
all interact with them all day every day and as a result a beach is in motion from one or more of
these forces. Sometimes the motions are so slight as to be unnoticed by us, at other times they
are forceful enough that we can see the wind moving it as it pick's up the sand from one location
and deposit's it in a different one. Winds blowing across a desert in Africa are carried across the
Atlantic Ocean to the U.S. on a regular basis. Storm's of all size's from every direction generate
wave's of every size also ( they work hand and hand ) and churn the water into one of the most
destructive forces known to man. Even on the rare days when there is no wind and waves there
are currents at work moving ton's and ton's of the beach even if we can't see it in action. But
sometimes we can see it at work if we just look close enough.
So what's my point you ask? My point is as we walk a beach and observe it, we only see what
is the surface. We can see where the wind has removed part of the dune's or where the waves
have cut down at the tide line, if there has been a large storm we see where it can and often will
remove large amounts of the beach and carry it inland or just the opposite and drag it out and
deposit it offshore. MOST of the time we are unable to see what the BASE of the beach looks
like, but more important, and what I think is the profile of this base. This base layer can be a
combination of rock, or clay but not much of anything else, other wise it would be washed away
by the above forces, and indeed sometimes even a base of rock or clay can be removed by it.
It is this base's PROFILE that when( looked at in the direction the beach runs) that should be of
great interest to anyone that detects it. This profile will not be flat like the surface we normally
look at. True there can be area's that can be an exception but most surfaces in nature are not.
Forces that formed that base surface was not that kind to it, it will have hole's or troughs, small
and large and a multitude of other irregular blebs that make up it's surface that will trap anything
small enough to fit into them. Unless some force strong enough to remove the layer of sand that
covers it, and even then it may still hold it, only to be recovered by more sand later.
As stated in my header this is part one, I have to stop and take care of a different matter for now
but will continue with this later.
to address. Any beach is a very geologically active environment, Wind, waves, currents, mankind
all interact with them all day every day and as a result a beach is in motion from one or more of
these forces. Sometimes the motions are so slight as to be unnoticed by us, at other times they
are forceful enough that we can see the wind moving it as it pick's up the sand from one location
and deposit's it in a different one. Winds blowing across a desert in Africa are carried across the
Atlantic Ocean to the U.S. on a regular basis. Storm's of all size's from every direction generate
wave's of every size also ( they work hand and hand ) and churn the water into one of the most
destructive forces known to man. Even on the rare days when there is no wind and waves there
are currents at work moving ton's and ton's of the beach even if we can't see it in action. But
sometimes we can see it at work if we just look close enough.
So what's my point you ask? My point is as we walk a beach and observe it, we only see what
is the surface. We can see where the wind has removed part of the dune's or where the waves
have cut down at the tide line, if there has been a large storm we see where it can and often will
remove large amounts of the beach and carry it inland or just the opposite and drag it out and
deposit it offshore. MOST of the time we are unable to see what the BASE of the beach looks
like, but more important, and what I think is the profile of this base. This base layer can be a
combination of rock, or clay but not much of anything else, other wise it would be washed away
by the above forces, and indeed sometimes even a base of rock or clay can be removed by it.
It is this base's PROFILE that when( looked at in the direction the beach runs) that should be of
great interest to anyone that detects it. This profile will not be flat like the surface we normally
look at. True there can be area's that can be an exception but most surfaces in nature are not.
Forces that formed that base surface was not that kind to it, it will have hole's or troughs, small
and large and a multitude of other irregular blebs that make up it's surface that will trap anything
small enough to fit into them. Unless some force strong enough to remove the layer of sand that
covers it, and even then it may still hold it, only to be recovered by more sand later.
As stated in my header this is part one, I have to stop and take care of a different matter for now
but will continue with this later.
