Tag: ifremer

Sand: Plage de Le Vourc’h

This week, we have sand from the beach at Le Vourc’h near Porspoder in Brittany, France.  I just returned from a two-month research visit to IFREMER in Brest, and while I was out there I was fortunate enough to rent a car and tour the countryside.

The beach appears to be mostly white quartz sand, but this sample had a single mysterious black grain, sticking out of the picture like the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

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Sand from Porspoder Beach in Brittany, France

When I visited in November, the rocks surrounding this beach were being absolutely pulverized by massive waves, and this was only during a “minor” storm.

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Nothing like watching >4 m waves smash against rocks for half an hour to remind yourself that you are a puny human who is lucky to be alive in the face of natural forces that care not one iota about our well being.