“I believe that we have to force the sea back and keep it out, not retreat from it, as we have done for years.” No, these are not the words of King Cnut (who, anyway, was simply demonstrating the impossibility...
Avulsion. For a geologist, it’s the process whereby a river escapes its channel, but for a lawyer it’s a doctrine – and a highly contentious one. On many occasions on this blog I have bemoaned the absurdities of coastal development...
The Greek word for 'desert' is eremos, from which comes 'hermit,' and that is exactly what I have been for quite a while. The word is appropriate because I have been chained to the word processor and surrounded by piles...
I have been offline for a while, living the life of a hermit attached to a word-processor, surrounded by a veritable chaos of index cards, large sheets of paper covered in my version of ‘mind-maps’, magazine clippings and journal articles,...
I realise that this post is later than it should have been, but I would be delinquent if I did not note this extraordinary event. A few years ago, on a dismal and gusty day somehow appropriate for the location,...
Earlier this year, I discovered a superb geological and photographic blog that I had not encountered before. ‘Written In Stone…seen through my lens’ is by Jack Share, who describes himself as follows: I was the kid in the Jackson Browne...
John Lackie writes: Last year I had the pleasure of going on a four-day residential field course as part of an Open University geology module (SXG288); one of the sites we visited had a spectacular feature that might be of...
Thanks, Emma, for this helpful advice - the Camden Roundhouse could have used it! (http://www.summernanny.com/blog/5-creative-ways-for-getting-sand-off-your-feet-after-the-beach/) Going to the beach is awesome; getting sand in your house and car, not so much. It’s funny how a great afternoon playing in the...
Camden, the hip northern London suburb, is not a place one would normally think of going to the beach. However, recently, after a fascinating tour along London’s canals, I found myself in Camden and, once the obligatory pilgrimage to Marine...
As the residents of Breezy Point continue on their path back to normality after the ravages of superstorm Sandy, part of that normality is that Larry Deemer has been out and about on the beach again, superbly documenting the shape-shifting...
A few years ago I reported on my visit to San Francisco's Exploratorium, a place of wonder for, as they say, “children of all ages.” It has now moved to a brand-new facility on the city’s piers, and I have...
The fascination of nature informing technology continues. I have reported periodically on robotics and locomotion in sand, most recently after my personal encounter with the 'sand swimmer,' Scincus albifasciatus laterimaculatus. Much of this extraordinary work is done by researchers at...
Everyone I have talked to who saw even part of the documentary recently shown in Europe expressed a common reaction: surprise. Which was exactly the intention of Denis Delestrac and all of us who were involved: sand as a non-sustainable...
Sand: an investigation into a disappearance. Shown last night on ARTE, the European culture channel, this superb documentary by Denis Delestrac has already made waves. It has also provided me with a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction – last...
“One grain of sand, it is all that remains of my vast empire." This line is from the classic film The Never Ending Story. When the mythical land of Fantasia is destroyed, the protagonists are able to wish it back...
Back in the very early days of this blog, one of the great and rewarding pieces of serendipity was getting to know Larry Deemer, sand aficionado and photographer extraordinaire. I first published a selection of his stunning images back in...
The differences in the coastal geomorphology along the Pacific coast of Tohoku in part controlled the impact of the Tohoku-oki tsunami. a. The steep sided valleys of the Sanriku coastline focussed the tsunami waves causing a run up height of...
If you look at the two photos above, you will notice that the sand has moved – there is something down there……. I have long been fascinated by the sandfish – the sand swimmer, the sand skink, or Scincus scincus...
From Wired: A sand scandal is brewing in China, with concerns that low-quality concrete has been used in the construction of many of the country's largest buildings -- putting them at risk of collapse. The recipe to make concrete is...
