At Scripps Beach in La Jolla, CA, the receding tide and water discharged from the Scripps research center merge on the beach, distributing black and contrasting light-colored sand. The dark and light particles appear different in weight, so they flow and settle over each other in arresting patterns.
( 1 ) Water from the research center is discharged into the ocean.
( 2 ) Waves from the ocean encounter the discharged water from the opposite direction.
( 3 ) Water and sand merge and flow together. The following images show the patterns created by these forces.
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( 11 ) Interestingly, this is not what I was seeing when I took this shot: there were no visible ridges in the sand as captured in the photo. Rather, the water distributed the sand into patterns the eye and brain interprets as three-dimensional forms.
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