beach profiling lab

Beach profiling is measuring the beach to figure out the current beach profile or the size and height of the beach, then we can compare future data to see how the beach has changed.  Beach profiling can be useful to investors building in near shore places because if the beach has had past profiling studies done then builders could see how the beach changes of the years.  To get an accurate profile allot of measurements need to be taken so it’s good to have multiple teams working to profile one beach simultaneously

Procedure
1 find a place to start transect line.

2 gps mark that point

3 run transect line perpendicular towards the ocean.

4 proceed to place red Fred in the shed

5 use compass to take heading of the transect line

4 if beach slopes upward from the point of measurement then the run stick is placed on that point  if the beach slopes downward the rise stick is placed on the point of measurement.

5 place appropriate tool at point start of transect line

6 if clear of obstructions place appropriate  tool 1 meter down the transect line., if there are obstructions place the tool that is not on the measuring point close the obstruction and then move the measuring point past the obstruction once  steps 7 8 have been taken,

 7ensure both tools are level

8 record the centimeter mark aligned with the top of the intersecting pole as rise and run 1 meter.  the rise will be negative if it is sloping up and positive if sloping down

Repeat step 6 7 8 until you reach past the foot of the beach, the transect line ends here.

10 wind up transect tape.

11 mark transect tape start point for future reference  

this is a picture of me marking the gps point for the start of the transect line, max is in there to just chilling out with the run measuring tool.

in this picture max is again just chilling out with the run tool after having measured the run. mira is marking it down and me and ms s are checking out the data.

Beach Profile

This graph shows the height of the sand from the foot of the beach. our y axis is in centimeters and our x axis is in centimeters.

Te yellow dots represent the rotten guavas that we scientificly refer to as current marks.  W observed the movement of the current markes and the relative beach data such as our suroundings and water conditions.

Sand Origins Lab

Introduction
Sand is composed of small bits of eroded rock or pieces of shell bone and coral.  Sand is classified into two major catagories, biogenic sand coming from living organisms and detrital sand wich originates from rock.  over time reef ecosystems die and thier remains erode into sand .  During storms or large swells large portions dead reefs or sand banks can be moved onto the beach or off swept downshore causing dramatic changes on the usable beach width.  One way to determine if sand is of biogenic or detrital origin is to use an acid viniger in this case to react with the calcium carbonate in the biogenic sand causing carbon dioxide water and calcium acitate.  'The reaction has a visble bubbling and the sound of popping can be heard.  If the sand is detrital then no reaction will happen when viniger is introduced.

Research Question
Is big beach of detrial origin, is black sand beach of detrital origin.
Hypothesis
I hypothosize that big beach  will be biogenic in orgin and black sand will be detrital in origin.
Prediction.
If big beach is biogenic then black sand will be detrital because it is the oppisite color.
Materials.
Cubs tape marker beaker pipet vineger van margraff saftey goggles data sheet glue. map of maui.
procedure
1.Drive to beach.       2. collect sand sample  3 label sand sample  4 reapet steps one through 3 at another beach.  5 test sand 6 record results. 7 glue sand sample on map.
DATA
From our testing we saw that thae sand from big beach had alot o chemical reaction when introduced to viniger.  There was bubbling and rising and an audible crackling sound emmited from the test beaker.  However the sand from black sand beach had significantly less reaction.  although the was a slight bubbling and a faint crackling sound the sand was clearly primarily composed of detrital particles.
Conclusion
I hypothosized that big beach would be biogenic and if it was that black sand would turn out to be the oppisite.  after anylizing the data i have found it consistant with my hypothesis.  The light yellowish sand from big beach was primarily biogenic, wich makes sense due to large sand deposits offshore and the constant south swell that makena is exopsed to.  The black sand beach on the other hand lies down current of prominent basalt and cinder cliffs which are probably the contributing factor to its detrial make up.  The trace amounts of biogenic sand found in blacksand beach are likley sweapt down from big beach via the strong currents running around the point twoards black sand.   some possible sources of error could be mislabling the sand samples.  subjectvly viewing the evidence and human error such as writing the wrong number or typos causing a flaw in data.

In this picture 1 stands for big beach research area 1 and 2 is bblack sand research area 2.  the yellow area represents sand deposits off shore of reaserch area one. the red arrow represents the direction of current and the blue shaded area is a section of the cinder cliffs that is greatly eroded. All of the things marked on the arial map were observed during field observations of the sights. or could haved been if i was there

 These pictures represent the research areas.  The top is big beach makena area 1 and the bottom is black sand beach makena area 2.

whale observation

the purpose of our whale observation was to use the clinometers we made in class to find out how far away the whales we observed were.  the research question is Are the whales closer to shore in the start of the season or the end.  i think the whales will be closer to shore in the begining because the havent given birth yet and they will be less protective but in the end of the season when they whales have given birth they will stay farther awayfrom shore and from humans.   the observation at mcregors point went okay.  we saw some whales spouting alot and a couple of breaches.  it would have been easier if it werent so windy.  the clinometer readings might have been inacurate because of the wind

Step one  determine elavation 

 step two look through straw at whale.

step three have partner record angle of inclanatio

step four calculate angle of inclanation on computer.  sorry no picture

The graph above shows that the whales we observered from the boat were signifcantly farther from shore then the whales we observed at mcgregors point.
From our data we have figured out that the whales stay closer to shore in the begining of the season before they give birth and go far out later in the whale season.  theese findings were consistant with my hypothesis.
My personal experence for the whale watching was none becauuse i did not attend the whale watch due to scheduling issues.
heres to the internet for having whale pictures