Where did the sand go?

[skier]

For those of you in the know, where did the sand get taken away to during Ivan and Arlene? Is it just offshore waiting for the tide to slowly bring it back ashore over time? Or is it gone for good and we have to wait for the lengthy process of sand reaccumulating from rivers, etc.?

 

[Kurt]

For those of you in the know, where did the sand get taken away to during Ivan and Arlene? Is it just offshore waiting for the tide to slowly bring it back ashore over time?

Yes, wave action brings the sand back onshore, and then the wind blows sand up into the dunes building them up.

The sand bars are very large right now. There is some movement of sand from east to west along the shore also, which is why some areas lose sand permanently and some gain.

I saw the first sand bar today off gulf trace and it was so big (about 12" underwater) waves were breaking on it.

 

[Landlocked]

According to what I've learned here, most of the sand after ivan was pushed up to make dunes (beach scraping). And what was left, (very little) was sucked out back into the gulf by Arlene.

 

[Kurt]

According to what I've learned here, most of the sand after ivan was pushed up to make dunes (beach scraping). And what was left, (very little) was sucked out back into the gulf by Arlene.

Right - and some that was pushed up ended up back in the gulf also.

Remember that a lot of the beaches were looking good before and after the scraping as a result of the wave processes metioned above. Hopefully, it won't take long before we have a nice cover again. Small storms help. Let's hope we don't have any more biggies this year (or next or . . ).

There are plenty of areas right now that look good.

 

[phdphay]

Yeah, this makes me very happy. It means that we freakin' paid our big-time tax dollars for sand that got washed away. I don't know about you, but I have other things I'd rather spend it on. Let nature take its course, as many tree-huggers begged for last fall, but I hadn't bought into. I've bought into it now. We've seen that beach scraping doesn't work. Plus, the beach scraping makes the beach look like heck, thank you very much, with all of that oozing black stuff.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Yes, wave action brings the sand back onshore, and then the wind blows sand up into the dunes building them up.

The sand bars are very large right now. There is some movement of sand from east to west along the shore also, which is why some areas lose sand permanently and some gain.

I saw the first sand bar today off gulf trace and it was so big (about 12" underwater) waves were breaking on it.

You can see the waves breaking on the large sandbar in this photo which I took yesterday in Seaside.

 

[Kurt]

Were they tree huggers - or thoughtful, informed people?

Don't make me remove your gator head.

 

[Kurt]

You can see the waves breaking on the large sandbar in this photo which I took yesterday in Seaside.

:clap_1:

 

[Landlocked]

That sandbar is nature making a statement. "Leave me be."

 

[phdphay]

Were they tree huggers - or thoughtful, informed people?

Don't make me remove your gator head.

Informed people, Master Kurt, says Dr. Gator. I am still trying to contact experts on the subject because I am an academician. Even though my specialties are mathematics, computer science, food, and fun (hey, I graduated from the party schools, Tulane and *The* University of Florida), I want to be educated on this subject by my peers in academia.