2/8/19 Report - Adding Another Variable. The Effect of Wave Period. Bigger Surf Sunday.

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

Souce: See MagisSeaWeed link below.

As I said yesterday, my first blogging did not involve treasure hunting.  In fact what makes my approach to metal detecting a little different is my old school scientific approach.. My professional life began as an academic and researcher, and I approach most everything still today with the same empirical scientific attitude.  You won't find any scientist worth anything making wild claims without a lot of good data and logic to support his conclusions, or at least making it clear when he doesn't have much data.  By nature and training I am still very much a scientist at heart.

If you've been reading this blog very long, you know that I've spent a good deal of time talking about erosion and how items get distributed on a beach.  My conclusions are based upon both observation and experiment.  I've reported on some of my experiments in the past.  While I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of many of the processes involved, there are still some unknowns, especially having to do with what takes place in front of the beach during rough surf.  That is difficult to observe.

One of the things that I've pretty much neglected up to this point is the effect of the wave period.  I've been told before by an oceanographer who reads this blog when the topic is erosion, that wave period is important, but I haven't studied that or considered it in any serious way.  Fortunately I just discovered an article on the topic that I'm sure will help.

At the top of this post you'll see an illustration of a longer period wave and a shorter period wave.
It shows how a longer period wave will affect the bottom in deeper water than a wave that has a shorter period.

One way I've made use of the circular nature of the particles under the wave is by lifting my feet as a wave passes so that it drops me back in the same spot.  I've described that method of working rough water in the past.

A wave is also affected by the bottom.  It is the bottom that causes the wave to change shape and break.

Here is the beginning of the article I'm talking about.

Size matters – we all know that. But when we are talking about swell, the period matters almost just as much.

The last few big swells in the North Atlantic have arrived with periods of up to 19 or 20 secs, which is pretty long for this part of the world. The long periods gave the waves an extra punch at many places, and, at some spots, a lot more size than you would normally expect...

Here is the link if you want to read the entire article. 

https://magicseaweed.com/news/swell-period-what-is-it-and-why-does-it-matter/10930/

Even though somebody mentioned to me years ago about the importance of wave period relative to erosion, I didn't look into it much.  We always talk about the tides, surf height, and angles, but now I hope to be adding another factor.  This article gives some very helpful information, and I'm sure I will be able to fill in some of the gaps in my understanding as I study it more.

One important thing is where the waves break.  Often they break in front of the beach on a sand bar, just churning up sand and anything else that might be near the surface.  If you follow the surfers, I think they'll be hunting waves that are breaking out some.

I'm glad I found that article and will undoubtedly be revisiting the topic in the future as I add to my understanding.

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

As you can see, the peak surf of up to seven feet is still predicted for Sunday.

It looks like the tides will be  moderate and the wind mostly southerly.  The wave period is going to be about 6 seconds.


Thanks for all the get-well wishes.  I'm better now.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net