Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
I found a very interesting study that provides a lot of useful information concerning shipwrecks around Florida. It is Shipping Losses and the Expansion of Global Capitalism: A Quantitative Analysis of Florida Shipwrecks, 1520-1890 by Chuck Meide.
Here are a couple excerpts that describe the study.
The present study is different in that instead of focusing on the material remains of wrecks in the archaeological record, it relies on shipping losses extant in the documentary record. My analysis is of a dataset of 1,431 shipwrecks lost in Florida waters between 1520 and 1890, modified from a larger database originally compiled by state underwater archaeologists in the Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research, Division of Historical Resources. At least one study of similar scope has been undertaken to date, that of Garrison (1989; et al 1989) which utilized a database of 4,000 shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico. Garrison’s valuable and innovative study focused primarily on spatial patterning in order to generate a predictive model of likely shipwreck locations, based on factors such as shipping routes, winds and currents, port location, historic hurricane paths, and the location of shoals, bars, barrier islands, reefs, and other hazards. The present 1 analysis, however, is less concerned with where or how the shipwrecks took place than with where they were going to or coming from, and with what commodities they were carrying. The quantification of these types of variables should expose patterns reflecting the ongoing processes of economic restructuring that took place throughout Europe and the New World between the 16th and 20th centuries...
The Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research (BAR) Shipwreck Database is a listing of 2,560 shipwrecks, dating between 1521 and 1949, all in or believed to be in Florida waters. It has been compiled using Microsoft Access 97 by BAR underwater archaeologists, mainly James Dunbar, under the direction of Dr. Roger Smith. While a summary of the geographical distribution of the wrecks in this database has been presented in Smith et al 1997 (38-39), for the most part this valuable resource has not been subject to any significant analytic study. The version I have used for this analysis dates to 1997, and no further records have been added to the database since that time (Della Scott-Ireton, personal communication, December 2003)...
The following graph illustrates the kind of information you will find in this paper.
You can easily see the transition of the major shippers going from primarily Spanish to English to American shipwrecks.
This is only one of many informative illustrations you will find.
There are breakdowns for cargos and shipping routes as well.
There is also a good bibliography.
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Here is another video of a beach showing a group of people turning a section of beach into quicksand by stomping their feet.
You have to see this to believe it.
If you imagine the surf continually pounding the front beach, you can imagine how the sand might fluidize in a similar manner.
Thanks to DJ for that video link.
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One person pointed out that the coin in my drain/experiment was a nickel, not a quarter. Keen eyesight. I'm glad the photos can be seen that well. I was thinking I should have taken better photos, but evidently they weren't that bad.
Thanks for the correction.
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I'm enjoying the Dino Hunters TV show. It might make you more interested in finding fossils even though Florida doesn't have dinosaurs.
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The blog is getting big and a little sluggish. I think I'm going to start a new blog, and keep the current one for old posts. I'm sure there will be a few small problems when I start the transition.
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There are no storms to watch right now.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net