Explore the Hidden World of Sand

Sand Under a Microscopemagnifiedsand2023-08-14T14:06:52+00:00

Explore the Hidden World of Sand

Under microscopic magnification, the unique beauty and individual character of sand grains reveal a diverse origin reflecting geological history and marine life biodiversity. Sand is everywhere on earth – on our beaches, in our deserts, and on the bottoms of lakes, rivers and oceans. Sand particles are coarser than silt but finer than gravel, ranging in size from 0.02 to 2 mm. They are created when weather and chemicals break down terrestrial rocks, minerals, marine bivalves, corals, mollusks, bryozoans, and foraminifera.

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INTERACTIVE SAND MAP

View the sand collection in a 3D presentation on Google Earth using a desktop browser or the Google Earth app.

There are roughly 8,000,000,000 grains of sand per cubic meter of beach, and roughly 700,000,000,000 cubic meters of beach on Earth. That’s 5 sextillion grains of sand. An incomprehensible number, and yet every sand grain is microscopically unique. Like a snowflake, no two are the same.

Sand Tells a Story

The microscopic features of sand from beaches throughout the world tell a story about the local geography, geological history, and biogenic aquatic life living in adjacent seas.

Aquatic Life in Sand

Microscopic grains of sand originate from sea life including corals, sea urchins, colorful fragments of bivalves, calcareous remains of numerous unicellular organisms such as foraminifera and bryozoans, and structural components of algae and sponges.

Mineral Composition of Sand

The geologic mineral composition of sand is influenced by plate tectonics, volcanic activity, and mountainous erosion occurring over many millions of years.

Lindisfarne (also known as "Holy Island") was formed from rocks of a type of geological intrusion called a sill and includes a mix of sedimentary, intrusive, and extrusive igneous rocks...

The Falkland Islands are a remote South Atlantic archipelago with rugged terrain and cliff-lined coasts located on a projection of the Patagonian continental shelf...

Kusadasi is a beach resort town situated along a gulf on the Aegeqn coast. This sand features smooth larger sand grains along with smaller rough-edged grains...

Originally part of the Asian mainland, the volcanic Oki Islands separated from the Asian mainland 10,000 years ago. Four of 180 islands that make up...

Ages ago, what is now New England and New York State was covered by the great Wisconsin glacier. About ten thousand years ago the glaciers melted leaving behind sand, rock and soil...

Galapagos beaches have a characteristic mixture of light and dark sand grains reflecting its geological origin and abundant aquatic marine life, including worn fragments of tan and reddish bivalve chards...

The Tikchik River is located within Wood-Tikchik State Park, the largest state park in the United States. The sand here is a mixture of variably sized dark grayish-tan sand grains...

Sand samples from two locations in Inishmore. Distinct tan, red striped, and white shell fragments are present along with a collection of dark metamorphic sand grains...

Barbados beaches are characterized by uniform fine white sand with a sprinkling of pink and red sand grains. Pink and red fragments of marine organisms stand out in contrast to shell and calcareous algae...

Aside from occasional clear and reflective quartz sand grains and some small black grains, some of which may be volcanic, the majority of the sand grains are smooth white and tan shell fragments...

White and tan marine shell fragments and gray and black intrusive igneous rock show the terrestrial and marine components of a LaSerena coastal beach...

This sand is a mixture of clear quartz grains, light yellow-tan rounded feldspar grains with some right angle edges, and darker greenish-gray metamorphic sand grains...

A mixture of dark and white sand grains present a colorful view of the diverse sand at Kaloko-Honokohau beach. Dark red and black porphyritic volcanic grains and varied colored sea urchin spine fragments...

A variety of organic sand grains including red foraminifera (forams), a clear triangular sponge spicule in the center, short rods of calcareous algae, and bits and pieces of coral...

Only 9 miles long and 2 miles wide, St. John boasts of lush emerald mountains, hills and valleys without many flat areas, and soft white coral sands on numerous near-deserted tranquil beaches...

Although St. John is a volcanic island and part of a submarine mountain range extending from Cuba to Trinidad, sand on recreational beaches is primarily biogenic. This beach sand...

A sand mixture of calcified algae, coral fragments, bits of mollusk shells, and pale and red forams reflects the diversity of adjacent sea life surrounding this island. Most of these sand grains...

This mixture of white and tan sand grains includes grooved fragments of mollusks and fragments of calcareous algae and smoothly worn forams. The red grains are fragments of the foraminifera...

This large mixture of sand grains is essentially of biogenic origin representing bleached coralline algae and fragments of coral with the exception of a larger dark grain of volcanic origin...

Among the larger sand grains are light tan and brown mollusk shell fragments. The black grain with thin vertical white stripes just below center is also a mollusk shell fragment while the smaller...

A mixture of tan to white opaque fragments of mollusk shells along with some purple and gray shell fragments (upper center) accompany the numerous dark gray to black sand grains of volcanic origin...

Reynisfjara Beach sand is a mixture of variably size black and gray grains along with a few white and red grains. This sand is of volcanic origin with a conspicuous absence of any fragments...

Variably sized light tan, dark tan and white small fragments of sea shells with occasional larger darker fragments characterize this beach that stretches for over 10 kilometers...

This sand is a mixture of white, tan, gray and black sand grains. All are smoothly worn from long exposure to wave action. White and tan grains are worn fragments of marine shells...

This sand is a mixture of white, tan, gray and black sand grains. White and tan grains are fragments of marine shells. Dark sand grains are fragments of basalt and other metamorphic rocks...

Djúpavík, a small village in the Northwest of Iceland in the Westfjords region, consists of seven houses, a hotel and the ruins of a herring factory. In the mid 1930’s Djúpavík...

The sand at Diamond Beach consists mostly of dark gray and black volcanic rock broken down by ocean and glacier rivers over centuries to form the black sand beach. White, tan and reddish sand grains also of...

Playa de Las Conchas, a remote beach on a small volcanic island, consists of microscopic marine fragments of smooth mollusk shell sand grains with occasional larger white fragments...

Known for its striking beauty, unique geomorphology, and picturesque coves, the Lizard Peninsula is legendary for its 18th century smuggling trade and shipwrecks in nearby reefs. This area, known as...

The Island of Bali, like most islands of the Indonesian archipelago, resulted from the tectonic subduction of the Indo-Australian plate under the Eurasian plate. The tertiary ocean floor, consisting of ancient marine...

Sand Beach is comprised of fine-grained sand while other Maine beaches that are open to waves and storms consist of pebbles, cobbles and boulders. In contrast to the mixed marine and geological...

The thick tan sand is derived primarily from igneous and highly folded metamorphic rock and includes quartz and reddish-tan alkali feldspar. Smoothly rounded sand grains...

With a natural geology like none other in the world, this elliptical island is comprised of Holocene volcanic rocks resulting from several volcanic eruptions with the most recent...

Auturias beaches, such as Tazones in northern Spain, face the