Sand on the bottom of the ocean as well as sand on the low-tide beach often forms wavy patterns. Do the parameters of these wavy patterns have any relation to the water and waves that formed them? If yes, what information may be gleaned from them?
Sand in creek beds also forms wavy patterns occasionally.
[edit] See below image of the beach:
or the below image of a shallow beach (underwater):
Answer
Waves are modeled, depending on the wind and depth and shape of "container", and also density of water. Waves in a lake have a much shorter wavelength then the waves in open ocean under the same wind conditions because of the boundary conditions on all sides.
The first layer of sand is a liquid mixture of sand and water which will be much denser than water, that is why in the picture the wavelength is so short with respect to the waves that carried in the energy.
Boundary conditions are different for each region. I do not think the patterns of sand tell us anything more than "waves passed through here". The depth of the sand might be correlated with the height of the sea wave: for the same region one could observe whether this is true, i.e. if there are deeper grooves after a large storm.
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