sandy beaches

exposed sandy beach->barrier island->bay->mudflats, salt marsh->mainland

• result of winds blowing across surface of ocean
• Smaller scale than tide
• Size depends on strength of wind

• Distance wind blows
• Longer=higher waves
• Worst winds around Antartica
• Texas doesn't get the high wind or the fetch=> don't get big waves

Augment or cancel each other

• Mostion of waves
• Will move up and down; doesn’t have Break

• when wave height /wave length =1/7
• Break at 10000lbs/square inch

seconds for crest to travel 1 wave length

• Eye level=wave height
• Better think about it
• Look at where wet seaweed is in relation to you
• If high up, then shouldn't enter water

depth=1/2 wave length

Back and forth wave motion in shallow water

Can be spilling or plunging

Wave curls over and doesn’t break immediately, but curves over long line (water tunnel)-surfers use

• comes up on a steep beach
• Just goes splat
• Doesn't feel bottom until already on beach

• In TX and most of gulf coast; waves break in series over sandbars
• Some troughs can be 5 ft deep
• So rule of thumb-don't go more than knee deep

Water can sink into sand and go back to sea Or backwash

• water runs back to sea
• 1 inch isn't big deal-strong backwash can knock you off your feet
• Hissing noise indicates strong backwash

• Run along beach, carry water to RIP channels-go 900 to beach out to sea
• Usually weak
• Fish sit in rip channel b/c if something gets knocked off beach, it gets into rip channel
• Looks calm-interruption in waves then with foam

• Phytoplankton present
• No attached algae, seagrasses etc
• Animals rely on debris, dead stuff or predation for food
• Lots of dead sargassum
• Affected by surf-scraping, movement
• Sand grain size important what causes sand to be more coarse
• stronger surf=> ?

• silt (less than 1mm) on upp
• Primarily medium sand in TX
• Most animals prefer medium and thin sand

they have to deal with wave action

• Wave action LOTS=> lots of O2 and stuff cast ashore,
• BUT sand doesn’t retain water at low tide; much abrasion
• Greater porosity

• Less wave action
• Retains better water at low tide
• Also allows decomposition of particles in it=>can be stagnant
• Allows burrow formation-sticks to itself
• Low porosity b/c sandgrains essentially glued together by silt

amount of space between sand grains

• ability of sand to hold water under certain amount of pressure
• Causes water puddle in footprint
• Makes burrows b/c can put water about themselves

Sand dune; backshore; berm(dry beach); front beach; bars and troughs

• Affected by salt spray
• Anything lives there will get salt on it
• Little fresh water, scant soil
• Plants have deep roots or spread out across sand by runners
• Can excrete salt or have hairs, to catch salt

• Sea oats-deep
• Beach morning glory
• Runners
• Beach tea-hairs
• Location varies by season
• Insects, lizards, ground squirrels also live there

Zone of driftwood and storm debris

• Ghost crabs eat just about anything
• Can even burrow down deep
• Move FAST 6ft/sec.
• Even baby sea turtle

• Beach face
• Intertidal
• Palp worms, amphipods, mole crabs(Emerita); clam(Donax)

• Ghost shrimp, small fishes, speckled crab (Arenaeus), sand dollars (Mellita) and sea pansy
• Some starfishes in surf zone

• Eating habits of BEACH BIRDS
• Usually 3rd level consumers
• So common, they are the major 3rd level consumer on beach ecosystem
• Help w/ TX economy-rare bird
• Eating small fish, crabs etc
• At low tide; birds are most likely the predators that need to be considered
• If ignore, you will only have a small picture of what is going on

• Scavengers;Live along just about any big body of water-Move inshore if big storm
• Strong bill
• Eat just about anything-fritos; chips; baby sea turtle; small fish/crabs; anything fisherman catches
• Rounded wings]
• Found on open and closed beaches

• Most common in TX
• Characteristic cry
• Black heads in summer And white heads with black dot in winter

• Sharp wings
• Forked tail
• Dive for fish
• Very adroit fliers

• Shore birds
• Pecking at things in the sand
• Feeding on polyket worms, SMALL clams etc
• Lot of members; extremely difficult to tell apart
• Make peep noise

• Type of sandpiper
• found at low tide level, hunts among the incoming water
• White; Very common-cute
• Found on open beach

• Small bill, but Larger than sandpiper
• Short bill
• Feed on small invertebrates
• Very good fliers: Doesn’t glide/hover

• Wading bird or on beach, long legs, gray, wings black and white
• Make lot of noiseMake big racket if disturbed
• Eat very small crab
• Have long bill

• more surf vs less surf
• more surf less surf
• grain size larger Grain size smaller (more silt)
• Greater porosity Less-more compact sediment
• More O2 in sediment Less except at surface
• More abrasion No abrasion
• Difficult to create burrows Burrowing is easy, burrows last for long time

• MAINLY OCCURS IN LESS surf b/c more surf=> mixing and oxygenization of sand
• Water
• Oxygenated-"GRAY" sand
• No/low free O2-"BLACK" sand
• Full of bacteria-anaerobic
• Decomposition occurs
• H2SO4
• Animals -are low and slow and only if able to survive ACIDIC and anaerobic environment
• REDOX layer: between gray and black layer
• Very distinct; often red

• No surf b/c On bay sides of barrier islands
• Sandy: wind blows sand into bay
• Very flat =>Wide tidal range
• HARSH environment
• Hot and dry @ low tide
• Can be soaked by rain-problems b/c marine orgs. Will have hard time with fresh water

• Animals tend to move up and down; in and out
• Primary production from phytoplankton
• Sometimes also benthic microalgae
• BENTHIC=ON BOTTOM or ON SEA FLOOR
• Many small animals rely on detritus for food
• Detritus= decaying organic matter with a coat of bacteria (protein)
• DETRITAL BASED FOOD CHAIN IS IMPORTANT

• Small -scale features of sediment
• Burrows, ripple marks, crab tracks etc
• Get many extremely tiny animals-Microfauna; 1mm or less

• Microfauna that live between and on sand grains
• Small enough to sit on individual sand grain

• -live on top of surface
• Juvenile blue crab, moon snail, lightning whelk, striped hermit crab

• Good nervous sytem and eye sight
• HATE everyone
• Can dig into sand so that only eyes, respiratory and anntenae

• Eats clams-drills through shell with its mouth then eats it out
• Drills through sand

• 1 shell gastropod
• Busycotypus
• Scavenger and eats clams

• As it gets bigger, moves from shell to shell
• Can't live on land
• Stores water in its shell so can survive at low tide for a couple hours
• Not ones in pet store

• Shrimp farfantepenaeus
• Commercial shrimp
• Feed on organisms in sand=>
• Fishes: red fish and croakers
• Mouth on bottom
• Come in at high tide and munch on all the smallers
• Flat fish and stingray-do the shuffle

• lives buried in sand=> hard to see
• hard clam, small clams, polychaets worms; lug worms

• Early naturalists got the shells at the same time enligh were trading with native americans
• Good to eat, but most we see will be from poluted areas=> bad to eat

• Feeds by swalloing sand/silt/mud
• Digests whats edible(bacteria) then voids the rest
• Direct deposit feeding
• Leaves fecal castings
• What comes out is primarily sand with little fecal mater
• Valuable ecological service
• Oxygenate sediment by moving it around
• Have internal fertilization
• Eggs are left in jelly coat before hatch out as larval stage
• Egg sack Attached to mud by stalk "SNOT BALL"

• Clams-Have neck to reach organism from surface
• Record=5 ft
• Dig in while juvenile, but if pulled back out, can't reburrow
• Below redox level
• GAPER clams: Tresus
• Neck have fused in current and excurrent siphons
• Burrow works as exoskelton
• See whole or something