where does sand come from? and why does it differ in color in different parts of the world?

Question

this is for a science project that i have...

any help would be appreciated...

Thank You

Answer 1

As the other people have said sand is just small pieces of rock.
The minerals that are in the rock give it its colour.
Iron oxides are generally red-brown, so the sand in the Oz outback is that red-brown colour due to the large amount of iron oxide in the sand.
Beach sand (well here in Esperance anyway, where the best beaches in Australia are!!) the sand is white because it is mostly silica which is a colourless mineral. All of the other minerals have been washed out of it. Beach sand will actually contain small pieces of seashells too which are mostly made of calcium carbonate another white/colourless mineral.
Heavy mineral sands (which are black due to the mineral ilmenite) get mined here in Western Australia to recover the titanium and zirconium in them.
There are so many different coloured minerals, thus lots of different coloured rocks and thus lots of different coloured sands.

Answer 2

Sand comes from continental rocks, mostly as rounded quartz grains or some other hard mineral (like magnetite, for black sands). Other minerals in sand give it its color, such a hematite staining it red. If sands have been deposited, eroded and redeposited, they can become very pure with a clear to white color.

Answer 3

Sand is the product of erosion of a parent rock. Its grain size and distribution is determined by the erosional method and type of parent rock. If you go to a sandy beach, the grains are small and uniform because they are the product of slow wave and current action. If you have active erosion - like from a fast flowing river, the grains are larger and less uniform in distribution.

As said earlier, the colour is determined by the parent rock.

Answer 4

Sand is the byproduct of eroding highlands, so the color is based on the parent material.