Shipwreck bellow the sand

[charlie23]

Hi,

I just wanted to ask a general opinion of what is the normal depth that a shipwreck is buried below the sand. Maybe 12-13 feet? I don´t think it might be more.... I know it depends on the shipwreck but there must be an average of depth of all shipwrecks.

[cornelis 816]

Charlie . It has a lot to do with the condition of the sea floor and the current . So there is no set parimeter of the position of the wreck . Sorry ! Cornelius

[stevemc]

What Cornelis said is exactly true. There is no set amount of sand. some are above the sand, some have justa dusting of sand, some a few feet of sand, and some have many feet of sand. It doesnt have any normal amount. some are buried under 20 feet of sand.

[ivan salis]

how deep a shipwreck is covered over by sand and such varies greatly mainly due to the shipwrecks location and the "local" conditions at the location * --many shipwrecks are in generally shallow waters * due to the fact that normally a ship has to strike something with her hull to sink ( hitting a shallow reef or bottom bouncing in shallow water until her hull gives way -due to being pushed inward towards shore by a storm) which causes her to break up and "sink" -- % wize very few vessels just "fell apart" in deep waters iin a storm ** unless they were damaged by a attack or were basically totally "unsea worthy"*** beforehand but used anyway. -- *** note*** most sailors would not "knowingly" sail on such a death trap vessel .

and some wrecks can be sitting nice and pretty on the sea floor easy to see --but be buried under miles of "red tape". thus their "untouchible"

[piratediver]

The sand depth not only varies from wreck to wreck it often changes on the same site. On the WHYDAH we have seen sand depths from 5-20 feet and also indications that winter storms have uncovered large sections of the site for short periods of time.
The sand on Cape Cod is constantly moving and the huge dunes are in a state of perpetual erosion, much of that sand gets deposited over the hundreds of wrecks in the area.


Pirate Diver

[capt dom]

It also {the sand depth over one's historic shipwreck site} may well be determined
by just how much money the local community may have to bury your site!

Luckily for us most of this material merrily transits on its journey to the south
helping the folks at Seminole and Lost Tree Village along with another
newly transplanted swedish "Treasure"
Elan - keep their unspoiled beach front mansions....

[wwwtimmcp]

a good quality side scan sonar should be able to tell you, these can do sub bottom profiling and see beneath sand or mud.

[cornelis 816]

I don't think side scan sonar can do any sub bottom profiling . Just my idea . Cornelius

[FISHEYE]

The shipwreck site for the El salvador in NC.The ship wrecked on a sandbar which is like quick sand and sank deep into the sand.We blew a hole 100 foot in diameter and 30 foot down and just hit wood.The ballast and cannon are further down and the gold maybe under the ballast by now.There is no real hard pan up there so whatever is heavy will keep on going down in time.

[charlie23]

Thanks for all the answers!

I´m after a ship which got beated after a battle, and dragged into the beach, till hit the surface, which was at 12-13 feet, and I expect it to be there. I guess that when a ship finally wreacks close to the beach, it´ll get buried easier that one lost on open sea....

Well thank you all

[bronzecannons]

a good quality side scan sonar should be able to tell you, these can do sub bottom profiling and see beneath sand or mud.

Side Scan Sonars are pretty high frequencies (100 to 950 Khz) so do not penetrate the sea bed. Only sub-bottom profilers are used for searching for objects buried below the sea bed.
TW