Wednesday, December 2, 2015

12/2/15 Report - Comparing Cuts On The Front And Back Of The Beach. Old Bronze Ordnance. Weekend Surf Predicted To Be Up.


Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Crude Illustration of Beach Profile.
There is always something new to learn.  I've been making some new and possibly important observations over the past couple of weeks.

We had some improved beach detecting conditions in both October and November, and I know of cobs that were found both times.

I saw a layer of older sand below the renourishment sand on one beach.  It was a different color and was buried less than a foot under the renourishment sand at one location.  That is promising.  The old sand is not too deep at some locations that were previously deeply buried.

In October one cut that produced some shipwreck items was  on the front of the beach far from the dunes.

If I had a choice, I'd prefer a cut to be low and near the water rather than high and back towards the dunes.

I made the above illustration to show to cuts - one out front and the other higher and behind.

I couldn't possibly discuss all of the different scenarios and factors, but will mention a few.

When you compare cut one and two in the above illustration,  I think you can see how cut 2 might have several things going for it.

First, being low and near the water, coins (represented by the two black dots) would much more easily be washed up and into the cut.  Cut two will have a lot more water hitting it longer.  The sheer amount of water hitting that cut would be much greater than the amount that would hit cut one.

The water could be hitting cut two through much of the tidal cycle.  The coins would not have far to go.

I should have drawn a slope in front of cut 1.

So far I've only talked about when coins are being washed up.  Coins are sometimes uncovered by erosion.  That is a different situation and I won't get into that now.

For now, I just want you to see how much greater water force would act on the cut 1 as compared to cut 2, and how closer the cut is to any coins that would wash up onto the beach.  Again, the situation would be entirely different if the coins were washing out of the dunes or if the coins previously washed up and only needed to be uncovered.

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I was told the photos weren't showing up for the previous two posts.  I believe I fixed that problem.


I hope so.  Let me know if you can't see them yet.

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I posted a new poll that will help us get a idea of how much was found during the most recent period of improved conditions.  It will also help me compare Oct. and Nov.

Please respond to the poll if you hunted the Treasure Coast beaches anytime during the last two weeks of November.


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Here is a cool document - The Development and Design of Bronze Ordnance, Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries.


http://www.staugustinelighthouse.org/LAMP/Conservation/Meide2002_Bronze.pdf


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The surf tomorrow on the Treasure Coast will be small (1 - 2 feet).  This weekend, however, expect something more like 5 - 9 feet.  That is promising, especially considering any remaining remnants of recent improved periods.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net