SBCC Scallops
SBCC Scallops
SBCC Scallops
By John Wiley
Thinking about SBCC today got me looking at some aerial pix of the campus. Then I noticed this odd scalloped pattern in the sand/water interface of West Beach.
The shoreline there transitions from a long "normal" broad line on the Western (left) side of the pic, to short curved scallops. At maximum resolution I can see nothing apparent to explain this in the creek outlet.
Maybe it's something about beach orientation to the break or wave reflection from the harbor sea wall? Anyone have ideas or a definitive answer?
13 Comments
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Nov 18, 2022 03:28 PMWish I could offer an actual reason, but otherwise it's cool observation. Probably some defect from the "Cruise Ships"?
Hoping that someone with a geo. background and/or somebody that frequents that are has seen this before?
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Nov 18, 2022 03:29 PMThey're called 'beach cusps'. There are a handful of theories on what causes them, it is likely a combination of many factors, including your ideas. More here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beach_cusps
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Nov 18, 2022 05:31 PMOK kids. Here is a link to a very old (1958) film on beach morphodynamics. It still holds true and it actually features the Santa Barbara harbor effect on beach sand transport. And no, this has absoutely nothing to do with cruise ships, pestilence that they are. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqT1g2riQ30 The cinematography is comical given the age, the science holds true.
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Nov 18, 2022 08:28 PMThanks for the link. That was really interesting. I vaguely remember seeing that film during a science class in the late 60’s.
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Nov 18, 2022 05:44 PMThis UCSC researcher has compiled some excellent photos of scalloped beaches. https://coastalcare.org/2016/12/beach-cusps-shoreline-symmetry-by-gary-griggs/
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Nov 18, 2022 06:15 PMThat’s Leadbetter, not West Beach. But cool pics. Thanks.
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Nov 19, 2022 06:42 AMSanta Ana blows down south cause a short period cross swell that runs counter to the down coast prevalent current and pushes up these cusps .
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Nov 19, 2022 01:04 PMCauses riffles in the current?
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Nov 19, 2022 11:34 AMObserved something similar at Goleta Beach yesterday.
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Nov 19, 2022 03:47 PMNice article John. The Wikipedia article on beach cusps reminds me of amateur radio with all the antenna tuning and peaks and troughs and harmonics. It's all related. The frequency of the waves hitting the beach is the 1st harmonic. The resulting series of harmonic waves (called higher harmonics) create the beach cusps in combination with sediment conditions and geologic formations in the area. If the frequency of the waves hitting the beach matches the beach's freqency (length of a key geologic area) or is a 4x multiple of it, then tidal resonance can occur. This is where the resulting amplitude (size) of the waves can increase to an unusually high or low tide (such as in the Bay of Fundy). Used Wikipedia to write this comment; besides the good article on beach cusps it has others with pictures and animated graphics on frequency, harmonics (including simple and complex harmonic motion), resonance, and tidal resonance. :-)
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Nov 19, 2022 11:25 PMSo fun to log back in just now and see all the fascinating comments. The video was fun for us to watch, and to see '60s SB back when we were just passing through. So glad to have landed here and joined Edhat to chat about stuff like this. Thanks everyone. :)
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Nov 20, 2022 01:05 AMSo many wrong answers!
They are so obviously “Seal Circles” created by seals in the middle of the night.
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Nov 21, 2022 09:44 AMits from beached mermaids....duh.... joking.... not sure, but i use them when i see them. great for surf fishing. when there are scallops like that, it can funnel into the troughs behind the waves where the fish hang out. i've caught some big fish on shore during events like this. unsure if it's related, but every time, i get a few large ones. I've even caught large pan sized BSP right at that same spot during a scalloped shoreline, halibut and even a striper once (had to release it).