Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Spectacle-52 years later...

Hi Guys,
Despite the humidity it was nice being at the beach and enjoy the nice breeze. Once we got there our first stop was at the sign regarding Asbestos, Bruce took the time to tell us about and we should be aware of it since it is such a dangerous composite. As we approached the beach site, we learned some of the things that can change the beach such as the long short transportation that cause the surfs to crash against the beach. Storms can also create an impact on the beach as well as tidal changes and us.

As we were walking I noticed a small white object that resembled today's automotive spark plugs, and indeed it was. Bruce explained this island was used for that purpose, the disposal of solid parts such as brake pads, lights, spark plugs and others.

We formed teams to explore different sections of the beach. Part of our team were Rene, Sam, Nick and I. After drawing a 6x6 section on the ground we started separating the beach glasses.
This is more or less what we come up with:
White-clear= about 20%
Green=about 20%
Brown-about 15%
Blue=5%
Pink=2.5%
Dead Periwinkle=2.5%
Old empty muscle shells=2.5%
Broken porcelain=20%
Miscellaneous=12.5%

It caught my attention the texture of the glass, they looked and felt like sand blasted glass. It gives you that old rustic look. The glass on the beach was mainly part of bottles and most of it was the thickest part of the bottle-neck and bottom-which makes sense since it is glass and it brakes with all that tidal movement.

We were back at the "Brazil nut" conversation so I decided to dig about 6 inches and found out there three layers. First the Brazil nut layer, second only sand and third a layer of neither Brazil nut or sand a layer of much smaller sediments.

I'll see you guys tomorrow at 9:30

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