Beach Dynamics

[sundragon]

Kinda new to this, been swinging the coil for a couple months now.

I live on the beach in SE Mass, I grew up here on this beach and have been walking it for 50 some odd years now. I always enjoyed watching the seasonal changes and how it would give up a few secrets in the winter. (One of those secrets is the foundation of Louie Howe's summer house where President FDR stayed trying to recuperate from Polio).

I always thought that objects on the beach would be pulled down to the low tide line and into deeper water.

What I am seeing is that objects remain more or less where they were dropped and maybe grouped together in layers.

One week will be penny day, this week was quarter week (all 1960 and early 1970). The only pennies I saw were spotted visually on top of the sand!

I have never found anything down in the low lower water line, except for a few buried old lobster traps. (wire construction).

I was wondering if anyone has ever seen a model of beach sand dynamics and how objects move? I have a rudimentary understanding of how sand moves along the beaches as studied for beach nourishment and dredging projects, but have never seen a model showing objects within that movement. This flow seems to be hydraulic like, and the beach is a big sluice box.

any ones 2 cents appreciated.

thanks,

Capt. J. Vincent Collins

 

[mudpuppy]

Great topic! I have been hunting beaches up here in West Michigan for 4yrs now and have learned a lot about the dynamics caused by waves and currents...even what effect the direction of the waves causes in certain areas, either blowing them out or filling them in...
Things dropped on the dry dont move much...things dropped where the waves are move a LOT! even when a fellow is trying to retrieve a target at the surf line or in the longshore rip, if a guy doesnt get it in his scoop, it can and often does wash a few feet away from the hole in no time...

When I find a lot of coins up on the wave area, where all that black sand is, they have all been tossed there by wave action...the Pennys and dimes seem to get tossed the highest, which is understandable, the Q's and nickels farther down the slope, even the roots of the dune grass help trap coins...after a big blow and current, theres NO foil or tabs or light stuff anywhere, just coins and heavier items...

I am beginning to think a gold ring does NOT get tossed in the waves, on account of its too heavy and since its hollow, theres nothing for a wave to get a good grip on it to toss it very far...so, as Clive tells us, "the deepest water, the closest to shore" is where a guy hunts for them...if a guy is finding lead weights, thats the place to sharpen up...those coins up on the slope can fool a guy and he will waste all day instead of hunting the gold areas...of course its better than nothing, and they at least give a fellow something to do as he is walking the beach looking for that deeper cut really close to shore, and the places where there was a lot of activity...

You are right that the beach is one big sluicebox, all the fines can get washed away and the heavies go down to the hardpack, to get reburied and un reachable until the next big blow exposes them for a very short time...sometimes only one day in a decade....
Mud
ps..dont laugh too hard at that little peepee drysand scoop...I expected to have a big expanse of beach here and obviously took a knife to a gunfight!

 

[nagov]

I totally believe it depends on the beach and its location. You will have some constants on all beaches but what happens on Atlantic Beaches may/should be different than Great Lakes and the Gulf beaches due to wind, tide variations and wave actions.

Wedding bands will react to wave action different than real ornate womens rings and fine gold chains. With the perfect storm though, all bets are off as there is more force involved which should move all targets easier.... Case in point.....I was hunting after a storm up north on Lake Erie one real cold winter day....since it had been a mild winter, the lake hadn't froze so the winter storms ripped the beach apart...working the wet sand on the slope I saw a gold womens ring exposed just ahead of me and a wave hit it....it tumbled down the slope and I saw another wave coming.....I sacraficed my warm dry mittens as I dove on the ring covering it up to keep it there.... 10k find of the day. I'm guessing here but since I was pulling silver and copper coins from the same area on the beach from the mid 1900's that this ring had been there from about the same time frame.....

Big storm in early this November opened up the jewelry store for some on the great lakes yet other locations on the great lakes I'm sure found more sand pushed up on their beaches due to the wind/wave directions.

You could pick one beach and study it your whole life and not know everything although you would have a very good knowledge on that one particular beach.

I'm a bit homesick after those Great Lakes Pictures!

Cliff

 

[mudpuppy]

Nagov! You saw a gold ring rolling down the slope! Well dang...there goes that theory! The Great Lakes came up a full 20" this year and completely changed where the 'waterline' used to be! So it was a whole different type of deal this year for me to have to learn all over again! You are right about learning a beach, you never really know it, maybe just a bit better than most, and then theres always the 'Luck' factor to deal with! It can be very frustrating and a lot of coil time between pings...then all of a sudden...BANG!
Mud

 

[dewcon4414]

Im not in agreement that it stays where it was lost. Yes they get buried quickly if they are in low areas....or will even move to those low areas concentrated by weight. Silver tends to move more toward the beach as does surface targets. Slop of the beach, time of the year, wind direction all make a difference. Small gold and those with stones are easier to move and can be found at the high to low water marks and they all werent lost there. There comes a point where the long shore drift or current cant move an object..... much like hydroplaining that a car will do. Heavy big ole honkers get buried faster because of weight but like Cliff said with the right movement all bets are off. In the water its a whole lot more about things finding a low spot and getting covered up. How deep.... well that depends on all those factors. We know targets collate when the sand moves..... but hard pan can make the difference it a target gets moved.

Dew

 

[dgruff]

I get frustrated trying to learn my beach, and I don't have any tide action. lol. I'd hate to try to learn a HUGE body of water. Our lake is down 7 feet. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it sure changes everything. What used to be over your head, is where people are dropping their towels. What "used" to be the towel line at normal level, now has all kinds of weeds and crap. And this lake has been open since 1945, so I know dang good and well everything hasn't been picked. I just have to find it!

 

[devildog2345]

This site has some good articles on how to read a beach and understanding how targets are affected by tides and currents.

http://www.mdhtalk.org/cf/tips-s.cfm?title=Salt Water Dry Sand Beach Detecting Tip-1

 

[nagov]

We know targets collate when the sand moves.....

Dew

and it hasn't in two years now........the sand that is........

 

[OldBeechnut]

My story is....."The more I thought I knew, The less I found Out I knew" So be there when it happens, and if it did, the better your chances are.

 

[goldnugget]

Thanks Devil Dog 2345. I just order a Beach Treasure Hunting book from England. To go with this years 12 issues of British Treasure Hunting- goldnugget- The subscription was cheap, until they coverted the price to Pounds and shipping. Charlotte,N.C.

 

[dgruff]

This site has some good articles on how to read a beach and understanding how targets are affected by tides and currents.

http://www.mdhtalk.org/cf/tips-s.cfm?title=Salt Water Dry Sand Beach Detecting Tip-1

Great site...plum full of info! I very much appreciate that!

 

[devildog2345]

You're welcome. It has really helped me out. That site has tons of great info about dirt hunting and research also.

 

[WaterWalker]

As for rings, here on at least one ocean beach they don't seem to move much. Two class ring were lost together, his and her's. I found both of them 38 years later withing 5 feet of each other, on a sand bar, just were they were lost. I have also found glory holes that contained multiple gold rings, as many as 5 withing a 6 foot area which were recovered within a 5 minute time span.

The first story was aired by CH40 in Springfield MA and the 2nd story was in the Garrett Searcher.

In a recent post (12/16/2014) by cupajo and I quote:

The long lost ring you refer to WW (WaterWalker) was lost for 40 years and I knew the general area to search for it, back in the early '80s. After a couple of years of watching for it among my finds it appeared in my scoop one day and I returned it to the fellow who lost the then brand new 14K signet ring when he was 12 years of age.
The story was printed in the Hartford Courant .

All this and I have heard of a ring found 7 miles down a Florida beach from were it was lost.

After reading several book on tides, gorms and sand movement; I only know one thing for sure, I DO NOT understand how things move on the ocean floor. I am thankful that they do, it makes detecting interesting.

 

[Gary Alford]

Does anyone here have any good recommendations for literature, or forum threads, on how a detectorist should read a beach? I dont get very many opportunities to go to the beach and want to make the most of it with the best information I can get. I live 3-1/2+ hours from the nearest coastline (Corpus Christi, TX area) and I have 4 yr old twins boys to keep occupied. I believe I can get them very interested just with good coin finds, but I would like to know where I should focus my hunting for coins and rings. Unfortunately I dont have much time to study before my first beach trip with my detector, but want to be prepared as possible.

 

[dobbratacus]

I posted this in July after finding some nice goodies:

The way I look at it, this forum is for showing others your good fortune and to help other folks. I like showing finds like everyone else but I like to help others as much if not more. At Myrtle, and at most beaches there are tons and tons of sand, and most of it pretty damn deep. Finding a recent drop is pure fortune and seldom happens unless one covers yards and yards of sand. If a target is dropped In wet sand during any tide at a beach, by the next low tide there have been hundreds of waves making that target go deeper and deeper. That's why searching in flat areas is a tremendous waste of time. It might sound simple to most of you, but I see lots of folks working the flat sand and know they are not goin' to find squat. If the beach is flat, your only option is the dry sand and the first twenty or so yards of wet sand because the wave action has not been so severe there. If you are lucky, there will be dips in the sand where the surf has caused the upper layers of sand to remove yards and yards of sand. These are the ONLY places to search. The deeper the holes in these cuts the better. You can feel it with your feet. If the sand is firm, and it's tought to dig, you're in the right spot. If your holes fill in faster than you dig, the sand is way to soft to stop a heavy item from sinking therefore you're wasting your time. Every day I walk onto the beach each cut in the beach has changed a bit. Even if the cut is in the same spot, the dips have moved so there are new holes to detect that had two feet of sand on them the day before. I found a platinum ring In one cut two days ago. I hit it hard. I hit it again today and found more lead weights and a gold ring not twenty yards away from where I found the other ring. I know I went over the same spot 2 days ago and the ring was probably there but it was probably covered with two feet of sand. I think I'll drink on the beach with mama tomorrow but I know those cuts will be there producing fresh areas to detect. Sorry to ramble. You gotta find the slopes or the cuts, otherwise you're justing swinging and taking in the sights which ain't that bad. Happy hunting to all.

 

[wvrick]

Some really good advice and good reading. This will be the first year I'm beach hunting seriously, I've always took a detector to the beach and did what most people do, walk the dry sand higher up the beach. I never did any water hunting at the ocean but lots of diving, so I hope to use everything I can read and learn to my advantage. This forum has a wealth of information.

 

[Gary Alford]

Thanks dobbratacus! I truly appreciate the information from a seasoned detectorist.

 

[melbajoe]

lots of very good info-thanks

 

[Hardrock65]

I grew up on the Cape in Falmouth but was not in to MD at that time. I've been back a couple of times with a machine and didn't find much. Time was limited but I would one day like to go back and really check it out. We lived in a house built in the 1700's and I went back and it's still there but all redone. I went to the door and knocked and no one was home so I left. I would love to hunt that yard, I bet I would find something I lost 55 years ago. Dang!

 

[currigrino]

Os dejo un enlace a una buena página. Sólo se puede ver "resucitada", pero merece la pena

leave a link to a good page. You can only see " resurrected " but worth (google translator)

the golden olde