Challenge: Why Are the Coasts So Different? [Search Research]

Daniel Russell knows how to find the answers to questions you can't get to with a simple Google query. In his weekly Search Research column, Russell issues a search challenge, then follows up later in the week with his solution?using whatever search technology and methodology fits the bill. This week's challenge: why are the East Coast and West Coast so different?

The other day I was standing in a friend's office at the Googleplex. On his wall he had a large, very high-res map of North America. Interestingly, it was black and white, which makes your eye see the landforms in a very different way.

As I stood there looking at it, I noticed something I'd never seen before: the East Coast and the West Coast of the US are very different... Yes, I know they're very different culturally (LA vs. NY; TMZ vs. NPR; etc.). But what I saw for the first time was how topographically different the coasts are from each other. That surprised me.

Here are a few side-by-side images from Google Earth to give you a sense of what I mean. I've taken 3 overview shots at different resolutions so you can see what I mean. (Remember that you can click on the images to see them at full size.)

Here's an overview of both coasts. What I saw was that the East Coast has LOTS more islands and barrier reefs than the West Coast. That struck me as being really, really different.

Here's a closer in view:

Do you see what I see? There are lots and lots of very low-lying islands in the east than in the west. (Note that I didn't try to cherrypick really good locations?these samples are from the same latitude on the West Coast and the East Coast and are pretty representative of the topography.

Finally, here's a real closeup of two locations West vs. East. Now the difference is really clear.

And now for the challenge: Why? <b?

Or, to be more precise: Why is the East Coast topography dominated by low-lying fringe islands, while the West Coast of the US is mostly without islands? (To be sure, there are a few, but they're pretty jaggy and stoney, while the East Coast islands are mostly sandy and flat.)

Can you figure out why?

As usual, please let us know what path you followed to find an answer, and about how long it took you to do so!

Search on!

Wednesday search challenge (9/26/12): Why are the coasts SO different? | SearchReSearch

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Daniel M. Russell studies the way people search and research?an anthropologist of search, if you will. You can read more from Russell on his SearchReSearch blog, and stay tuned for his weekly challenges (and answers) here on Lifehacker.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/TiIz0WUchCg/challenge-why-are-the-coasts-so-different

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