Under the sea

Hawaiian Sand Hawaiian "white" beach sand is primarily made up of the shells of micromolluscs (tiny snails) and the broken and worn pieces of larger shells and corals, sea urchin spines and bryozoan skeletons. Water and waves scour and burnish the pieces smaller and smaller with time. Other sands in Hawaii are made up of lava rock (black sand) and Pele's Tears/olivine/peridot (green sand). Around the world, other sands may be made up of rock which has been ground down by wind and water, and chemically degraded. River sand is usually quartz (silica) with traces of mica, feldspar, magnetite, and other minerals which are resistant to weathering. Look at different kinds of sand under a microscope or with a magnifying glass and see if you can tell what it is made of.

 

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Haw'n Sand		More Sand		Coral		Diatom		Radiolarian