Beach Dynamics

[RichW]

The problem with Corpus Christi is there is so little sand movement. There is seldom any sand movement on Mustang Island in the summer unless we have a storm in the gulf. Usually the best time for sand movement is the winter months. Some winters there is a little, some years not enough to make a difference. We haven't had really good sand movement in CC sine the 1970's. Also, items tend to sink very fast on Mustang Island and the bay. If you don't find it right after its lost it's out of the detectors range. ( I'm talking the surf and wet sand of course) There are no hard and fast rules for beaches. All beaches are different. BTW, if you come the CC don't take your detector if you head down south to the National Seashore. Anyone caught with one there is likely to spend time in jail.

 

[KinTN]

The problem with Corpus Christi is there is so little sand movement. There is seldom any sand movement on Mustang Island in the summer unless we have a storm in the gulf. Usually the best time for sand movement is the winter months. Some winters there is a little, some years not enough to make a difference. We haven't had really good sand movement in CC sine the 1970's........

What about Allen in August 1980- I would imagine that sucker moved some everything around (landfall was near Sarita iirc). Strongest hurricane in the Gulf (by barometric pressure) ever until Gilbert came along a year later and did some urban renewal in Mexico. I was in Kingsville then, but not detecting. Corpus got some weather from Allen.

 

[RichW]

What a storm that was. I remember at one time it covered the entire Gulf. I wasn't hunting at that time but it opened a lot of passes from the Bay to the Gulf south of Corpus Christi. Luckily the storm decreased in size and strength before hitting shore. If I remember correctly is was predicted to move up the coast but went inland and moved to the west of Kingsville and Corpus Christi and lost strength rapidly. We got lucky. I have friends that hunted back then and they said they filled 5 gallon buckets with coins.

 

[KinTN]

That weather radar picture of Allen covering the entire Gulf of Mexico is etched in my mind. It was my 1st hurricane.

We were Lucky for sure. I rem someone saying Allen came ashore on the most desolate spot in the lower 48. Kingsville, which sits on relatively high ground, was surrounded by rain runoff for almost a week iirc.

I bet you rem this pic or one like it:

I think it had shrunk from Class 5 to a Class 3 at this point.
It broke wind gagues at the Kingsville Naval Air Station at 220+mph tho.
I have a pic somewhere of a concrete light post that was snapped by the wind.

But what I remember most vividly were the mosquitos 7 days later. I have seen Alaskan North Slope mosquitos and they were nothing to Allen's spawn.

 

[Grilled Scallops]

I'm going to toss you guys an idea I'm planning on playing around with, it's for finding heavier rings. I believe it's a good one.


Go get one of your junker tungsten rings. Note tungsten rings are very similar to high purity gold where density is concerned. Basically, a tungsten ring should mimic a gold ring in the sand very nicely.

Get some fishing line. 20lb test, say. Now tie one end of the line to the ring. Get however much line you think you will need. Now you need to get clever: you will put the tungsten ring where a gold ring might be lost and fasten the other end of the fishing line to something secure like a stake or rock or pier piling or something. Leave lots of slack though so the tungsten ring will travel wherever the sand and water take it. Return at any time you like and follow the fishing line back to your ring, then you can observe where it has gone, how deep it was buried, etc after however many days you want.

Obviously, you want to do this where no one will mess with your experiment and that risk is lessened the sooner you come back and retrieve the ring. Maybe it's best to just leave it 24 hours so you can get a feel for how fresh drops move, do it during the middle of the week when no one's really at the beach. Or maybe 48 hours, then you know how stuff over a weekend moves. Fishing line is already invisible underwater, so use that to your advantage. I personally am going to use a pier piling at negative tide and retrieve it the next negative tide. We will see what happens!

 

[KinTN]

I'm going to toss you guys an idea I'm planning on playing around with, it's for finding heavier rings. I believe it's a good one.


Go get one of your junker tungsten rings. Note tungsten rings are very similar to high purity gold where density is concerned. Basically, a tungsten ring should mimic a gold ring in the sand very nicely.

Get some fishing line. 20lb test, say. Now tie one end of the line to the ring. Get however much line you think you will need. Now you need to get clever: you will put the tungsten ring where a gold ring might be lost and fasten the other end of the fishing line to something secure like a stake or rock or pier piling or something. Leave lots of slack though so the tungsten ring will travel wherever the sand and water take it. Return at any time you like and follow the fishing line back to your ring, then you can observe where it has gone, how deep it was buried, etc after however many days you want.

Obviously, you want to do this where no one will mess with your experiment and that risk is lessened the sooner you come back and retrieve the ring. Maybe it's best to just leave it 24 hours so you can get a feel for how fresh drops move, do it during the middle of the week when no one's really at the beach. Or maybe 48 hours, then you know how stuff over a weekend moves. Fishing line is already invisible underwater, so use that to your advantage. I personally am going to use a pier piling at negative tide and retrieve it the next negative tide. We will see what happens!

If youre going that long, you better give it a long line. It may go a long way. (or it may not )

I read once of a guy who did that with a gold ring and watched it quickly sink in real time; something like 20" iirc. I am skeptical of that and have always meant to try his experiment, but never remember it when I am at the beach.

 

[RichW]

Brings back old memories, thanks for the photo. The only thing worse I've seen was Celia. It was a very small but extremely powerful storm. Corpus Christi took a direct hit and the damage was terrible. Knocked out all power for weeks. My cousin who lives just to the south in Bishop had partly cloudy skies, little wind and no rain. It was a strange storm, almost like a tornado.

 

[GeorgeinSC]

Before you pull the line see if you can locate the ring with your detector. Keep us posted of your findings.

 

[OldBeechnut]

I'm going to toss you guys an idea I'm planning on playing around with, it's for finding heavier rings. I believe it's a good one.


Go get one of your junker tungsten rings. Note tungsten rings are very similar to high purity gold where density is concerned. Basically, a tungsten ring should mimic a gold ring in the sand very nicely.

Get some fishing line. 20lb test, say. Now tie one end of the line to the ring. Get however much line you think you will need. Now you need to get clever: you will put the tungsten ring where a gold ring might be lost and fasten the other end of the fishing line to something secure like a stake or rock or pier piling or something. Leave lots of slack though so the tungsten ring will travel wherever the sand and water take it. Return at any time you like and follow the fishing line back to your ring, then you can observe where it has gone, how deep it was buried, etc after however many days you want.

Obviously, you want to do this where no one will mess with your experiment and that risk is lessened the sooner you come back and retrieve the ring. Maybe it's best to just leave it 24 hours so you can get a feel for how fresh drops move, do it during the middle of the week when no one's really at the beach. Or maybe 48 hours, then you know how stuff over a weekend moves. Fishing line is already invisible underwater, so use that to your advantage. I personally am going to use a pier piling at negative tide and retrieve it the next negative tide. We will see what happens!

This has been done before on the forum here, I sure many of the oldtimers will remember...

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?26,1173722,page=1

 

[Kossie]

Beach dynamics are sum of tidal range, current, wave action and sediment characteristics. These factors determine the slope of a beach and the formation of sandbars. Whether heavy objects are moved depend on the weight/mass and shape of the object and the position in the surf.. A heavy object on top of the seabed can be washed higher up the beach by crashing waves in a surf during a storm. On the Dutch coast sediment consists of fine sand, no bedrock or pebbles and a small tidal range. Gold rings are mostly lost in the water. The dominant wave action and tidal current are notstrong enough to move gold rings but will suck the sand from underneath the ring and it will sink down vertically in the seabed. During a storm, these are the hurricanes that batter the US east coast but after crossing the Atlantic have lost a lot of energy, the surf cculd strip most of the overburden and objects can be washed up up by the surf but behind the surf the wave and current will only suck more sand from underneath the object. Since storms always cause raising sealevels and the surf willmove up inland especially during high and neap tides the heavy objects lost at sea are mostly subject to the weaker currents and suction. The crashing waves in a surf can be divided in a landward wash and a seaward backwash. The landward wash is strong enough to move up heavy objects. However the backwash can draw the object back again. I've seen concrete slabs of 8x8 ft get washed away. But the backwash is usually weaker therefore objects may stay upslope. Coins can be sorted by their denomination just below the high tide line in this manner (at the end of the upwash). For the gold rings those that are in the surf can be washed up as well.. Those that are behind it seaward usually sink deeper (out of reach of the detectors in the Dutch case) but can be moved by the longshore current. I have waded multiple times during favourable conditions but have had no luck. The only gold ring i've found in the North Sea was a 23 g signet ring deep in a sandbar. Sandbasrs form during average onshore wind conditions. Therefore this find must have been a freshdrop.

Hope this helps.

Regards Kossie