Last year, after my travels along the Atlantic Coast of France, I described the stunning and dynamic miniature landscapes sculpted in the sands of Cap Ferret at low tide. At the time, I experimented with my newly acquired movie camera to record some of these scenes and processes, but it’s only recently that I have devoted some time to learning the editing software, rendering, and uploading to the web. The first result is below. The quartz-dominated sand contains a significant proportion of dark, heavy grains of iron minerals, and these play a starring role in revealing the patterns of sedimentary transport, the brushwork that highlights the designs.
So, grab some popcorn and sit back. See sediment transport in action! Travel down miniature canyons! Revel in the evolution of ripples! Witness the conflict between erosion and deposition! And the finale looks over the Bay of Arcachon to the great sand dune of Pyla, Europe's largest - but more of that in the sequel.....
[This movie is posted here at only a moderate resolution - the original is significantly more detailed.]
This is link about Glass Beach, Hawaii from the Earth Science Picture of the Day site dated 10/7/10. If viewed on a subsequent day just click the link on the upper right to the previous day or days till the article appears.
http://epod.usra.edu/
Posted by: Jules | October 07, 2010 at 11:20 AM