Technology and Beach Hunting....are you getting the most from whats out there?

[bigscoop]

Technology and Beach Hunting....are you getting the most from what's out there?

Technology and Beach Hunting


Yep, some of the technology at our fingertips these days is pretty amazing so I'm going to take a few minutes to introduce some of you to Google Earth so can evaluate for yourself if you're getting the full jest of how this fantastic tool can possibly lead you to more treasure.


Sand, we all know it is always moving, building, and being removed. But have you ever wondered just how much, or just how often that sand moves? True, once we become familiar with a particular beach we can pretty much get a fix on these things with the naked eye, but what about that sand beyond the waterline, especially along those coastal areas where visibility is limited to just the first few feet of water?


It may surprise you to learn that on many beaches the bottom is always moving and changing, even when conditions remain fairly steady and/or mild. So for the purpose of explanation let's consider the series of troughs and sandbars along my area beaches here at New Smyrna Beach. Basically, from one summer to the next they seem pretty much the same, at least above the waterline anyway. But when we apply some of the basic tools incorporated in Google Earth we can begin to see that the beach is anything but the same, especially beyond the waterline. So here's an easy way to determine just how much your area beaches change from one year to the next.


Once you isolate a section of beach on your screen drop down to an elevation under 1000ft. Next, locate a couple of fixed points like the edge of a seawall, a pier piling, etc. From these fixed locations you want to use the ruler to take a distance measurement from the fixed point to say, the outer edge of the first trough, take note of that distance. Basically you have established the distance from your fixed object to the first underwater sandbar. Now prepare to be amazed.


Google Earth allows you to step back in time, sometimes a few months and sometimes several years, just depends on what year you're working in and how many aerial images are available for that year. At any rate, use the slide bar to choose a new period in time, say go back one year. Bring the same section of beach into your screen at nearly the same elevation, find your fixed position and then use the ruler to take another measurement from that fixed object to the same general area of that first sandbar. What you will often encounter is a huge difference in the location of that sandbar, meaning of course that the entire beach beyond the waterline has relocated a massive amount of sand and quite often by a considerable distance. Now consider the bottom of the trough, where it once was and where it is at the last aerial update. Think you might know where something lays hidden and buried beyond that waterline? Is the bottom of that trough the same bottom you hunted last year or is it a completely different bottom then six-months ago? Google Earth can certainly help you in determining these things and many others. Just one of the many ways these free technology apps can be used in your treasure hunting efforts.

Anyone care to share another?

 

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[chlsbrns]

Historicaerials.com has aerials going way back in time for some areas. I study longshore drift (aka sediment transport) patterns. Along the east coast, some coastlines constantly (or for the most part) move north others move south. Find a place where they oppose or a hole or an obstacle and you will find a hot spot! These would for the most part require diving.

You can also watch waves from the beach. You will see waves rise then shrink then rise & break. There are holes where they shrink!

 

[Fletch88]

Wow Bigscoop that's unbelievable! I checked out Google Earth, on a place I stayed just north of you last weekend, I pinned a 400' grid area and measured the distance from the sea wall to the 1st trough area over the last few years. I was amazed to see almost a 200' difference in front of our hotel. I was in the area 6 weeks back and was able to find a parallel trough that must have been 4-6 feet deep at low tide and stretched maybe a half mile. I scored one decent gold ring at the head of it. I went back 2 weeks later and by my best guesstimate there's 4-6 feet of sand there now. I can remember walking up the slope back towards car and it was a pretty good uphill hike. Now it's almost a level area. Thanks for sharing these tips, I certainly see what you mean by "sanded in" now. Best Regards, Walt

 

[bigscoop]

It's pretty amazing when you look at some of this stuff on the larger scale. I know I've hunted a trough one day with good success only to return the next day and it's completely void of targets, the trough's depth and width changing overnight, and these troughs can stretch for long distances up and down the beach. I like to think of them as having the same motion as snakes, and when you think of them in this way it's easy to see how currents come into play in the reshaping of these troughs. None of us like it when those long shoreline currents are too strong to allow for safe hunting but that's also when the sand is really being moved and the trough is being reshaped. As these currents begin to subside the sand will once again be allowed to settle into the trough so the window for opportunity is pretty small. During these periods of strong shoreline currents the bottom of these troughs will often be littered with a lot of shell and they will be very firm under your feet, once the currents subside the shell will disappear and the bottom will start to become soft and fluffy. Another good indicator that the currents have been at work can be seen in the walls of the trough, the steeper slopes being a good indicator that long shoreline currents have been passing through the trough with increased force. But again, the window of opportunity is usually pretty short because these areas will start to fill back in quickly as these currents start to diminish. Once they start to fill back in, and with the absence of recent drops, the odds of finding anything worth the effort really start to decline.

 

[S.S.Tupperware]

yeah changes quick I have a few nail in some of the pilings for reference...