coastal - Through the sandglass

art coastal education geology geomorphology history photography sand science travel

Two tourist lessons in sand dynamics

A few days ago, I described the fractal sand landscapes on the beach of Cap Ferret on the Atlantic coast west of Bordeaux. The swirling sand banks that shape-sh...

October 1, 2009 2 min read

art coastal education geology geomorphology history photography sand science travel

Arenophile genetics, Jedi, and another submarine canyon

Geology doesn’t exactly run in my family. My parents weren’t geologists, I married someone to whom dip and strike will eternally remain an arcane concept, and n...

September 1, 2009 6 min read

art climate_change coastal environment geology geomorphology history photography rivers_water sand science travel

Mont-Saint-Michel: a massive sedimentology experiment

The bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, in the coastal corner of France between Normandy and Brittany, boasts the fourth-largest tidal range in the world – up to 14 meter...

September 1, 2009 7 min read

art coastal environment geology geomorphology history photography rivers_water sand science travel

Nature's patterns, fractal landscapes, and a beach laboratory

The termination of the seemingly endless stretch of beach and dunes that forms the Atlantic boundary of the Bordeaux region is Cap Ferret, a constantly changing...

September 1, 2009 2 min read

art climate_change coastal environment geology history photography rivers_water sand science travel

Sand contributes to the economic stimulus

As a young kid, I was blessed with six great-aunts, who lived together in two groups of three, one group in Nottingham and the other in the East End of London....

September 1, 2009 7 min read

art books coastal history photography rivers_water sand travel

The "Dieu Protège"

In the previous post I cited the joys of serendipity, and they continue. Travelling down the west coast of Brittany, we were attracted to the old fishing harbou...

September 1, 2009 4 min read

art climate_change coastal environment geology geomorphology history photography rivers_water sand science travel

September 2009

Musings and news on the extraordinary stories sand has to tell of our planet and daily lives

September 1, 2009 7 min read

art books climate_change coastal education environment geology geomorphology history photography rivers_water sand science travel wildlife

The mother of all extinctions and the perils of correlation (1)

Nature abhors a vacuum, continuity and the status quo. Variety is the spice of life and change is the order of the day. Such things make life complex for a geol...

August 1, 2009 10 min read

art books climate_change coastal education environment geology geomorphology history photography rivers_water sand science travel wildlife

The mother of all extinctions and the perils of correlation (2)

The previous post, instalment one of this saga, looked at what a geologist must do, faced with rock exposures in, say, a cliff face, to read the ledgers of our...

August 1, 2009 14 min read

art books climate_change coastal education environment geology geomorphology history photography rivers_water sand science travel wildlife

The Poetry of Sand: Guest Writer, Richard Bready

Times of Sand Richard Bready In science one tries to say something that no one knew before in a way that everyone can understand. Whereas in poetry . . . - Dira...

August 1, 2009 13 min read

art books climate_change coastal education environment geology history photography rivers_water sand science travel wildlife

August 2009

Musings and news on the extraordinary stories sand has to tell of our planet and daily lives

August 1, 2009 9 min read

art books climate_change coastal education environment geology history photography rivers_water sand science travel wildlife

USGS beach health advice - but let's hear it for meiofauna

The US Geological Survey newsroom has just put out an advisory on the importance of washing your hands after playing in the sand on the beach: By washing your h...

August 1, 2009 7 min read