Sand Between Your Toes
Yesterday, I found myself daydreaming about summer, my favorite time of the year. Warm air, longer days, and that unmistakable feeling of sand slipping between my toes at the beach.
One thought led to another, and suddenly
I was curious about sand itself, because it turns out those tiny grains are far more interesting than they look.
Sand isn’t a single thing. It’s a category. To qualify as sand, a grain has to fall within a specific size range: larger than silt, smaller than gravel. That means sand can come from many sources, including
quartz, coral, shells, volcanic rock, and even gemstones.
Some beaches in Hawaii have green sand thanks to a mineral called olivine, while parts of the world have pink beaches colored by crushed coral and tiny
organisms.
Here’s another fascinating fact. Not all sand is shaped the same. Desert sand is often smooth and round from constant wind erosion, while beach sand tends to be sharper and more angular because of wave action. That’s why desert sand usually can’t be used for construction, those rounded grains don’t lock
together well enough.
If you’ve ever heard that there’s “plenty of sand to go around,” surprisingly, that’s not true. Usable sand is one of the most mined natural resources in the world, primarily for concrete and glass.
Beach sand, however, is usually protected because removing it can cause serious erosion and damage ecosystems.
Sand also carries sound and memory. The crunch under your
feet, the way it sticks to sunscreen, the faint rattle it makes in a jar...those sensory details are deeply tied to relaxation and nostalgia. Scientists even study how the sound of sand and waves together can reduce stress and promote calm.
All that from something we usually brush off our feet without a second
thought!
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