Shifting Sands, Santa Barbara, CA - Places of Geologic Significance on Waymarking.com

The sign reads:

"The Shifting Sands of the Beach

Apparently calm and stable on a bright summer day, in reality sand beaches are constantly changing. Sand itself if produced by a sequence of dynamic processes. Rocks eroded far up rivers and streams are shattered and ground a s they are carried down to the sea. There they are passed to the currents of the ocean shore, where they join the debris of rocks and shells broken by the pounding energy of the surf. The fine particles we call sand are grains of quartz and feldspar mixed with other minerals. Light enough to be suspended in turbulent waters, sand is carried down the coast by the nearshore currents. It is deposited whenever the wave energy dissipates and the particles can settle to the bottom. The nearshore current off Santa Barbara's south-facing beaches moves from west to east. The waves generally stikce the beach at an angle, continually stirring up and dropping sand. Overall, currents gradulally carry sand past Santa Barbara and beyond Ventura, where it eventually falls into an undersear canyon off Port Hueneme's shores.

By observing the beach over time, you can detect an annual cycle in the contours of the shore. During summer the relatively small, low-energy waves deposit sand at their upper reaches, extending the beach toward the sea and increasing the depth of the sand. Winter storms generate large, high-energy waves which stir up the sand and carry it offshore, sometimes exposing the bedrock. Human activities can interfere with these cycles. Damming of the rivers reduces the flow of sediment into the nearshore current. Structures like the Santa Barbara breakwater can interfere with sand movement along the shore. When it was built in 1929, the breakwater jutted into the nearshore current, slowing water movement and causing deposition of sand. Eventually, a wide beach (Leadbetter Beach) formed. Then the nearshore current carried most of its sand load around the breakwater end, where some of the water swirled in a low-energy eddy. The sand settled out of the current, forming the sand-spit at the harbor mouth in only a few years. This settling continues today, and the harbor is regularly dredged to keep the sand from building up to block the harbor mouth completely."

Waymark is confirmed to be publicly accessible: yes Access fee (In local currency): .00 Requires a high clearance vehicle to visit.: no Requires 4x4 vehicle to visit.: no Public Transport available: yes Parking Coordinates: Not Listed Website reference: Not listed

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