Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
A gold pocket watch recovered from the body of one of the richest passengers on the Titanic has fetched a "record-breaking" £1.78m at auction.
Isidor Straus and his wife Ida were among the more than 1,500 people who died when the vessel travelling from Southampton to New York sank after hitting an iceberg on 14 April 1912.
His body was recovered from the Atlantic days after the disaster and among his possessions was an 18 carat gold Jules Jurgensen pocket watch...
Here is the link for more about that.
Titanic passenger's watch fetches record price at auction
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I recommend reading chapter 8 of the document I referred to in a recent post. It gives many examples of the amazing force of rough seas on structures. In many cases the surf moved concrete blocks or stones of many tons. Chapter eight begins in page 124 of the book. Unfortunately, the document is not easy to navigate, but if you manage to read the chapter, you will undoubtedly be surprised by the amazing feats of strength accomplished by the force of water. The chapter describes many examples of blocks of many tons being lifted or moved unbelievable distances.
Here is that link.
Wave Action in Relation to Engineering Structures - Google Books
Dynamometers were placed to measure the water force, such as on the structure diagramed below. Each circle represents the location of a dynamometer.
Here is a short excerpt describing some results.
Thousands of pounds per square foot!
You might be surprised to learn that great force was exerted as the water was forced up in a vertical direction. The dynamometer at the top of the structure recorded that force at thousands of pounds per square foot. That reminded me of the times I've seen coins being flipped up over the face of a beach cut and explains how that can happen.
The main point being that the amount of force exerted by waves striking a structure is huge, and a similar force is exerted upon a beach and objects on the beach. The force during rough seas is certainly enough to move coins and other objects very significantly. Just to repeat - we are talking about rough seas. With smaller waves, you get small forces.
In my last post, I suggested an experiment that demonstrates how a sudden force, such as a puff of air, can cause a coin to jump. I hope you tried it for yourself. The similar thing undoubtedly happens with water.
I won't get into the many ways that the fluid can act on irregular surfaces. If you've ever tried to maintain a stable position while metal detecting in rough seas waist or chin high, you know that before each wave breaks it will push and then pull you in the opposite direction repeatedly. In the past I've described my technique for dealing with that, but it has to be recognized that the effect of the water is multifaceted, at times pulsing and under certain circumstances even creating a vacuum.
I know my series got pretty detailed, and at times academic, but I think some of you will benefit from a greater understanding the processes involved. You can actually see these things happening on the beach.
I didn't start this post intending to make it Part VIII of the series, but that is how it turned out.
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I just added this green embossed Licoreria La Bodega bottle to the tgbottlebarn.blotspot.com site.
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Today we have a stronger east wind on the Treasure Coast, but the surf hasn't increased much yet. Seems like every year we have some windy days when I start putting up my Christmas decorations.
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| Surf Chart for the Fort Pierce Jetty Area from Surfguru.com. |
As you can see from the above chart, the surf hasn't increased yet, and we can see that on the beach cam.
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| Fort Pierce Jetty Beach Cam (South Beach Zoom View) Around 10 AM. |
The surf is a little rougher, but not much.
Looks like three or four feet by the weekend.
Good hunting,
Treausreguide@comcast.net
