Thanks for the information and suggestions on brittle shells. I'd like to
hear from the Floridans and Texans, who have a lot of Busycon on their
coasts. Are these large "whelks" relatively brittle for their size and
shell thickness? Do you see a lot of broken whelks?

As to the Gosport Sand, I should have emphasized that although the main
shell beds are storm deposits, they are not beach windrows, but beds that
were laid down on the shallow continental shelf. They don't show signs of
constant wave action; in fact, the shell beds were probably covered by
sandy mud between major storms (hurricanes).

Andrew K. Rindsberg
Geological Survey of Alabama