Letter: Causing ripples
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: Regarding the shifting sands at Mawgan Porth (Letters, 5 August), T. G. Mercer's acute observation is in agreement with the known behaviour of sand in moving water. What he sees, as he walks along the dry beach, is the response of the sand to the last downslope movement of the water before it drained away altogether. A rippled surface forms as sand reacts with relatively slowly moving water, say in calm weather. At higher water velocities, associated with greater volumes of water during storms, a rippled interface between sand and water is no longer the most stable form. Instead the water and sand react to give a plane surface. It follows, of course, that the steeper the slope of the beach, the less the chance of finding ripples.
Yours sincerely,
ROBIN G. C. BATHURST
Department of Earth Sciences
Liverpool University
6 August
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments