Ocean Beach Sand, Stonefield State Park, Oregon, USA

This sand is rich in black magnetite, pink and orange garnets, green and yellow olivines, colorless zircons, and other heavy minerals. Most of them are well rounded.

Macro Photograph (Click here for images at higher magnification and polarized light.)

Definition/Function:

Significance in the Environment:

This is an example of a dense sand where wave and current action has removed most of the lighter minerals, such as quartz and feldspars, from the beach. Stonefield Beach is about 20 miles north of Florence, Oregon.

Characteristic Features:

Associated Particles:

References:

Greenberg, Gary, A GRAIN OF SAND: NATURE'S SECRET WONDER, Voyageur Press, 2008.

Welland, Michael, SAND: THE NEVER ENDING STORY, University of California Press, 2009.

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun01/clsand.html
(Good Information on the microscopy of sand, Great site for more information on microscopy in general)

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-grain-of-sand-natures-secret-wonder
(Good Information on Sand with links to more information on sand)

http://www.sciencelive.org/component/option,com_mediadb/task,play/idstr,Open-feeds_fsc_exploring_sedimentary_processes_fsc02_02_m4v/vv,-2/Itemid,97
(Brief, very informative video on what can be learned from the shape of a sand grain.)