SAND AND ROCK

Sand is a loose, fragmented, naturally-occurring material consisting of

very small particles of decomposed rocks, corals, or shells. Sand is
used to provide bulk, strength, and other properties to construction
materials like asphalt and concrete. It is also used as a decorative
material in landscaping. Specific types of sand are used in the
manufacture of glass and as a molding material for metal casting.
Other sand is used as an abrasive in sandblasting and to make
sandpaper.

Sand was used as early as 6000 B.C. to grind and polish stones to make
sharpened tools and other objects. The stones were rubbed on a piece
of wetted sandstone to hone the cutting edge. In some cases, loose
sand was scattered on a flat rock, and objects were rubbed against the
sandy surface to smooth them. The first beads with a glass glaze
appeared in Egypt in about 3,500-3,000 B.C. The glass was made by
melting sand, although naturally-occurring glass formed by volcanic
activity was probably known long before that time.

In the United States, sand was used to produce glass as early as 1607
with the founding of the short-lived Jamestown colony in Virginia. The
first sustained glass-making venture was formed in 1739 in
Wistarburgh, New Jersey, by Caspar Wistar. The production of sand for
construction purposes grew significantly with the push for paved roads
during World War I and through the 1920s. The housing boom of the
late 1940s and early 1950s, coupled with the increased use of concrete
for building construction, provided another boost in production.

Today, the processing of sand is a multi-billion dollar business with

operations ranging from very small plants supplying sand and gravel to
a few local building contractors to very large, highly automated plants
supplying hundreds of truckloads of sand per day to a wide variety of
customers over a large area.

Raw Materials

The most common sand is composed of particles of quartz and

feldspar. Quartz sand particles are colorless or slightly pink, while
feldspar sand has a pink or amber color. Black sands, such as those
found in Hawaii, are composed of particles of obsidian formed by
volcanic activity. Other black sands include materials such as
magnetite and homblende. Coral sands are white or gray, and sands
composed of broken shell fragments are usually light brown. The white
sands on the Gulf of Mexico are made of smooth particles of limestone
known as oolite, derived from the Greek word meaning egg stone. The
white sands of White Sands, New Mexico, are made of gypsum crystals.
Ordinarily, gypsum is dissolved by rain water, but the area around
White Sands is so arid that the crystals survive to form undulating
dunes.

Quartz sands, which are high in silica content, are used to make glass.
When quartz sands are crushed they produce particles with sharp,
angular edges that are sometimes used to make sandpaper for
smoothing wood. Some quartz sand is found in the form of sandstone.
Sandstone is a sedimentary, rock-like material formed under pressure
and composed of sand particles held together by a cementing material
such as calcium carbonate. A few sandstones are composed of almost
pure quartz particles and are the source of the silicon used to make
semiconductor silicon chips for microprocessors.
Molding sands, or foundry sands, are used for metal casting. They are
composed of about 80%-92% silica, up to 15% alumina, and2% iron
oxide. The alumina content gives the molding sand the proper binding
properties required to hold the shape of the mold cavity.

Sand that is scooped up from the bank of a river and is not washed or
sorted in any way is known as bank-run sand. It is used in general
construction and landscaping.

The definition of the size of sand particles varies, but in general sand
contains particles measuring about 0.0025-0.08 in (0.063-2.0 mm) in
diameter. Particles smaller than this are classified as silt. Larger
particles are either granules or gravel, depending on their size. In the
construction business, all aggregate materials with particles smaller
than 0.25 in (6.4 mm) are classified as fine aggregates. This includes
sand. Materials with particles from 0.25 in (6.4 mm) up to about 6.0 in
(15.2 cm) are classified as coarse aggregates.

Sand has a density of 2,600-3,100 lb per cubic yard (1,538-1,842 kg

per cubic meter). The trapped water content between the sand
particles can cause the density to vary substantially.

The Manufacturing
Process

The preparation of sand consists of five basic processes: natural

decomposition, extraction, sorting, washing, and in some cases
crushing. The first process, natural decomposition, usually takes
millions of years. The other processes take considerably less time.

The processing plant is located in the immediate vicinity of the natural

deposit of material to minimize the costs of transportation. If the plant
is located next to a sand dune or beach, the plant may process only
sand. If it is located next to a riverbed, it will usually process both sand
and gravel because the two materials are often intermixed. Most plants
are stationary and may operate in the same location for decades.
Some plants are mobile and can be broken into separate components
to be towed to the quarry site. Mobile plants are used for remote
construction projects, where there are not any stationary plants
nearby.

The capacity of the processing plant is measured in tons per hour

output of finished product. Stationary plants can produce several
thousand tons per hour. Mobile plants are smaller and their output is
usually in the range of 50-500 tons (50.8-508 metric tons) per hour.
In many locations, an asphalt production plant or a ready mixed
concrete plant operates on the same site as the sand and gravel plant.
In those cases, much of the sand and gravel output is conveyed
directly into stockpiles for the asphalt and concrete plants.

The following steps are commonly used to process sand and gravel for
construction purposes.

Natural decomposition

• Solid rock is broken down into chunks by natural mechanical

forces such as the movement of glaciers, the expansion of water
in cracks during freezing, and the impacts of rocks falling on
each other.
• The chunks of rock are further broken down into grains by the
chemical action of vegetation and rain combined with
mechanical impacts as the progressively smaller particles are
carried and worn by wind and water.
• As the grains of rock are carried into waterways, some are
deposited along the bank, while others eventually reach the sea,
where they may join with fragments of coral or shells to form
beaches. Wind-borne sand may form dunes.

Extraction

• Extraction of sand can be as simple as scooping it up from the

riverbank with a rubber-tired vehicle called a front loader. Some
sand is excavated from under water using floating dredges.
These dredges have a long boom with a rotating cutter head to
loosen the sand deposits and a suction pipe to suck up the sand.
• If the sand is extracted with a front loader, it is then dumped into
a truck or train, or placed onto a conveyor belt for transportation
to the nearby processing plant. If the sand is extracted from
underwater with a dredge, the slurry of sand and water is
pumped through a pipeline to the plant.

Sorting

• In the processing plant, the incoming material is first mixed with

water, if it is not already mixed as part of a slurry, and is
discharged through a large perforated screen in the feeder to
separate out rocks, lumps of clay, sticks, and other foreign
material. If the material is heavily bound together with clay or
soil, it may then pass through a blade mill which breaks it up into
smaller chunks.
 • The material then pass through several / perforated screens or
plates with different hole diameters or openings to separate the
particles according to size. The screens or plates measure up to
10 ft (3.1 m) wide by up to 28 ft (8.5 m) long and are tilted at an
angle of about 20-45 degrees from the horizontal. They are
vibrated to allow the trapped material on each level to work its
way off the end of the screen and onto separate conveyor belts.
The coarsest screen, with the largest holes, is on top, and the
screens underneath have progressively smaller holes.

Washing

• The material that comes off the coarsest screen is washed in a

log washer before it is further screened. The name for this piece
of equipment comes from the early practice of putting short
lengths of wood logs inside a rotating drum filled with sand and
gravel to add to the scrubbing action. A modern log washer
consists of a slightly inclined horizontal trough with slowly
rotating blades attached to a shaft that runs down the axis of the
trough. The blades churn through the material as it passes
through the trough to strip away any remaining clay or soft soil.
The larger gravel particles are separated out and screened into
different sizes, while any smaller sand particles that had been
attached to the gravel may be carried back and added to the
flow of incoming material.
• The material that comes off the intermediate screen(s) may be
stored and blended with either the coarser gravel or the finer
sand to make various aggregate mixes.
• The water and material that pass through the finest screen is
pumped into a horizontal sand classifying tank. As the mixture
flows from one end of the tank to the other, the sand sinks to the
bottom where it is trapped in a series of bins. The larger, heavier
sand particles drop out first, followed by the progressively
smaller sand particles, while the lighter silt particles are carried
off in the flow of water. The water and silt are then pumped out
of the classifying tank and through a clarifier where the silt
settles to the bottom and is removed. The clear water is
recirculated to the feeder to be used again.
• The sand is removed from the bins in the bottom of the
classifying tank with rotating dewatering screws that slowly
move the sand up the inside of an inclined cylinder. The
differently sized sands are then washed again to remove any
remaining silt and are transported by conveyor belts to
stockpiles for storage.

Crushing
 • Some sand is crushed to produce a specific size or shape that is
not available naturally. The crusher may be a rotating cone type
in which the sand falls between an upper rotating cone and a
lower fixed cone that are separated by a very small distance. Any
particles larger than this separation distance are crushed
between the heavy metal cones, and the resulting particles fall
out the bottom.

Quality Control

Most large aggregate processing plants use a computer to control the

flow of materials. The feed rate of incoming material, the vibration rate
of the sorting screens, and the flow rate of the water through the sand
classifying tank all determine the proportions of the finished products
and must be monitored and controlled. Many specifications for asphalt
and concrete mixes require a certain distribution of aggregate sizes
and shapes, and the aggregate producer must ensure that the sand
and gravel meets those specifications.

The Future

The production of sand and gravel in many areas has come under
increasingly stringent restrictions. The United States Army Corps of
Engineers, operating under the Federal Clean Water Act, has required
permits for sand extraction from rivers, streams, and other waterways.
The cost of the special studies required to obtain these permits is often
too expensive to allow smaller companies to continue operation. In
other cases, residential development in the vicinity of existing
aggregate processing plants has led to restrictions regarding noise,
dust, and truck traffic. The overall result of these restrictions in certain
areas is that sand and gravel used for construction will have to be
transported from outside the area at a significantly increased cost in
the future. Unconsolidated granular material consisting of mineral,
rock, or biological fragments between 63 micrometers and 2 mm in
diameter. Finer material is referred to as silt and clay; coarser material
is known as gravel. Sand is usually produced primarily by the chemical
or mechanical breakdown of older source rocks, but may also be
formed by the direct chemical precipitation of mineral grains or by
biological processes. Accumulations of sand result from hydrodynamic
sorting of sediment during transport and deposition. See also Clay
minerals; Depositional systems and environments; Gravel; Mineral;
Rock; Sedimentary rocks.

Most sand originates from the chemical and mechanical breakdown, or

weathering, of bedrock. Since chemical weathering is most efficient in
soils, most sand grains originate within soils. Rocks may also be broken
into sand-size fragments by mechanical processes, including diurnal
temperature changes, freeze-thaw cycles, wedging by salt crystals or
plant roots, and ice gouging beneath glaciers. See also Weathering
processes.

Because sand is largely a residual product left behind by incomplete

chemical and mechanical weathering, it is usually enriched in minerals
that are resistant to these processes. Quartz not only is extremely
resistant to chemical and mechanical weathering but is also one of the
most abundant minerals in the Earth's crust. Many sands dominantly
consist of quartz. Other common constituents include feldspar, and
fragments of igneous or metamorphic rock. Direct chemical
precipitation or hydrodynamic processes can result in sand that
consists almost entirely of calcite, glauconite, or dense dark-colored
minerals such as magnetite and ilmenite.

sand, rock material occurring in the form of loose, rounded or angular

grains, varying in size from .06 mm to 2 mm in diameter, the particles
being smaller than those of gravel and larger than those of silt or clay.
Sand is formed as a result of the weathering and decomposition of
igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic rocks. Its most abundant
mineral constituent is silica, usually in the form of quartz, and many
deposits are composed almost exclusively of quartz grains. Many other
minerals, however, are often present in small quantities, e.g., the
amphiboles, the pyroxenes, olivine, glauconite, clay, the feldspars, the
micas, iron compounds, zircon, garnet, tourmaline, titanite, corundum,
and topaz. Some sands—e.g., coral sands, shell sands, and
foraminiferal sands—are organic in origin. Sand grains may be rounded
or more or less angular, and differences in shape and size account
chiefly for differences in such important properties as porosity
(proportion of interstices to the total mass), permeability to gases and
liquids, and viscosity, or resistance to flow. Permeability and viscosity
are also affected by the proportion of clayey matter present. The chief
agents in accumulating sands into deposits are winds, rivers, waves,
and glaciers; sand deposits are classified according to origin as
fluviatile, lacustrine, glacial, marine, and eolian. The most extensive
superficial deposits are seen in the desert and on beaches. The surface
of a sand deposit may be level or very gently sloping, or the sand may
be gathered by wind action into ridges called dunes. Sandstone and
quartzite rocks are indurated masses of sand, and sand deposits are
sometimes formed by the weathering of sandstone and quartzite
formations. Sand is used extensively in the manufacture of bricks,
mortar, cement, concrete, plasters, paving materials, and refractory
materials. It is also used in the metallurgical industry, in the filtration of
water, in pottery making, in glassmaking, in the manufacture of
explosives, and as an abrasive. Other industrial uses are numerous.
Although soils entirely composed of sand are too dry and too lacking in
nourishment for the growth of plants, a soil that is to some extent
sandy (a “light” soil) is favorable to certain types of agriculture and
horticulture, as it permits the free movement of air in the soil, offers
less resistance than a clay soil to growing roots, improves drainage,
and increases ease of cultivation. Sand to which nutrient solutions
have been added is often used in soilless gardening. Sand is a
naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock
and mineral particles.

As the term is used by geologists, sand particles range in diameter

from 0.0625 (or 1⁄16 mm, or 62.5 micrometers) to 2 millimeters. An
individual particle in this range size is termed a sand grain. The next
smaller size class in geology is silt: particles smaller than 0.0625 mm
down to 0.004 mm in diameter. The next larger size class above sand
is gravel, with particles ranging from 2 mm up to 64 mm (see particle
size for standards in use). Sand feels gritty when rubbed between the
fingers (silt, by comparison, feels like flour).

ISO 14688 grades sands as fine, medium and coarse with ranges 0.063
mm to 0.2 mm to 0.63 mm to 2.0 mm. In USA, sand is commonly
divided into five sub-categories based on size: very fine sand (1/16 -
1/8 mm diameter), fine sand (1/8 mm - 1/4 mm), medium sand (1/4
mm - 1/2 mm), coarse sand (1/2 mm - 1 mm), and very coarse sand (1
mm - 2 mm). These sizes are based on the Φ sediment size scale,
where size in Φ = -log base 2 of size in mm. On this scale, for sand the
value of Φ varies from -1 to +4, with the divisions bThe most common
constituent of sand, in inland continental settings and non-tropical
coastal settings, is silica (silicon dioxide, or SiO2), usually in the form of
quartz, which, because of its chemical inertness and considerable
hardness, is resistant to weathering.

The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock

sources and conditions. The bright white sands found in tropical and
subtropical coastal settings are eroded limestone and may contain
coral and shell fragments in addition to other organic or organically
derived fragmental material.[1] The gypsum sand dunes of the White
Sands National Monument in New Mexico are famous for their bright,
white color. Arkose is a sand or sandstone with considerable feldspar
content, derived from the weathering and erosion of a (usually nearby)
granite. Some sands contain magnetite, chlorite, glauconite or
gypsum. Sands rich in magnetite are dark to black in color, as are
sands derived from volcanic basalts and obsidian. Chlorite-glauconite
bearing sands are typically green in color, as are sands derived from
basalt (lava) with a high olivine content. Many sands, especially those
found extensively in Southern Europe, have iron impurities within the
quartz crystals of the sand, giving a deep yellow colour. Sand deposits
in some areas contain garnets and other resistant minerals, including
some small gemstones.

Sand is transported by wind and water and deposited in the form of

beaches, dunes, sand spits, sand bars and related features.

• Sand is often a principal component of concrete.

• Molding sand, also known as foundry sand, is moistened or oiled
and then shaped into molds for sand casting. This type of sand
must be able to withstand high temperatures and pressure, allow
gases to escape, have a uniform, small grain size and be non-
reactive with metals.
• It is the principal component in glass production.
• Graded sand is used as an abrasive in sandblasting and is also
used in media filters for filtering water.
• Brick manufacturing plants use sand as an additive with a
mixture of clay and other materials for manufacturing bricks.
• Sand is sometimes mixed with paint to create a textured finish
for walls and ceilings or a non-slip floor surface.
• Sandy soils are ideal for certain crops such as watermelons,
peaches, and peanuts and are often preferred for intensive dairy
farming because of their excellent drainage characteristics.
• Sand is used in landscaping, it is added to make small hills and
slopes (for example, constructing golf courses).
• Beach nourishment - transportation to popular beaches where
seasonal tides or artificial changes to the shoreline cause the
original sand to flow out to sea.[2]
• Sandbags are used for protection against floods and gun fire.
They can be easily transported when empty, then filled with local
sand.
• Sand castle building is a popular activity. There are competitive
sand castle building competitions (See sand art and play).
• Sand animation is a type of performance art and a technique for
creating animated films.
• Aquaria are often lined with sand instead of gravel. This is a low
cost alternative which some believe is better than gravel.
• Railroads use sand to improve the traction of wheels on the rails.

Weights can use sand in pulley and gear systems as weights. To

expand somewhat on the definition of rock, the term may be said to
describe an aggregate of minerals or organic material, which may or
may not appear in consolidated form. Consolidation, which we will
explore further within the context of sedimentary rock, is a process
whereby materials become compacted, or experience an increase in
density. It is likely that the image that comes to mind when the word
rock is mentioned is that of a consolidated one, but it is important to
remember that the term also can apply to loose particles.

The role of organic material in forming rocks also belongs primarily

within the context of sedimentary, as opposed to igneous or meta-
morphic, rocks. There are, indeed, a handful of rocks that include
organic material, an example being coal, but the vast majority are
purely inorganic in origin. The inorganic materials that make up rocks
are minerals, discussed in the next section. Rocks and minerals of
economic value are called ores, which are examined in greater depth
elsewhere, within the context of Economic Geology.

Minerals Defined

The definition of a mineral includes four components: it must appear in

nature and therefore not be artificial, it must be inorganic in origin, it
must have a definite chemical composition, and it must have a
crystalline internal structure. The first of these stipulations clearly
indicates that there is no such thing as a man-made mineral; as for the
other three parts of the definition, they deserve a bit of clarification.

At one time, the term organic, even within the realm of chemistry,
referred to all living or formerly living things, their parts, and
substances that come from them. Today, however, chemists use the
word to describe any compound that contains carbon and hydrogen,
thus excluding carbonates (which are a type of mineral) and oxides
such as carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide.

Nonvarying Composition

The third stipulation, that a mineral must be of nonvarying

composition, limits minerals almost exclusively to elements and
compounds—that is, either to substances that cannot be chemically
broken down to yield simpler substances or to substances formed by
the chemical bonding of elements. The chemical bonding of elements
is a process quite different from mixing, and a compound is not to be
confused with a mixture, whose composition is highly variable.

Another way of putting this is to say that all minerals must have a
definite chemical formula, which is not possible with a mixture such as
dirt or glass. The Minerals essay, which the reader is encouraged to
consult for further information, makes reference to certain alloys, or
mixtures of metals, that are classified as minerals. These alloys,
however, are exceptional and fit certain specific characteristics of
interest to mineralogists. The vast majority of the more than 3,700
known varieties of mineral constitute either a single element or a
single compound.

Crystalline Structure

The fact that a mineral must have a crystalline structure implies that it
must be a solid, since all crystalline substances are solids. A solid, of
course, is a type of matter whose particles, in contrast to those of a
gas or liquid, maintain an orderly and definite arrangement and resist
attempts at compression. Thus, petroleum cannot be a mineral, nor is
"mineral spirits," a liquid paint thinner made from petroleum (and
further disqualified by the fact that it is artificial in origin).

Crystalline solids are those in which the constituent parts are arranged
in a simple, definite geometric pattern that is repeated in all directions.
These solids are contrasted with amorphous solids, such as clay. Metals
are crystalline in structure; indeed, several metallic elements that
appear on Earth in pure form (for example, gold, copper, and silver)
also are classified as minerals.

Identifying Minerals

The type of crystal that appears in a mineral is one of several

characteristics that make it possible for a mineralogist to identify an
unidentified mineral. Although, as noted earlier, there are nearly 4,000
known varieties of mineral, there are just six crystal systems, or
geometric shapes formed by crystals. Crystallographers, or
mineralogists concerned with the study of crystal structures, are able
to identify the crystal system by studying a good, well-formed
specimen of a mineral, observing the faces of the crystal and the
angles at which they meet.

Other characteristics by which minerals can be studied and identified

visually are color, streak, and luster. The first of these features is not
particularly reliable, because impurities in the mineral may greatly
affect its hue. Therefore, mineralogists are much more likely to rely on
streak, or the color of the powder produced when one mineral is
scratched by a harder one. Luster, the appearance of a mineral when
light reflects off its surface, is described by such terms as vitreous
(glassy), dull, or metallic.

Hardness

Minerals also can be identified according to what might be called

tactile properties, or characteristics best discerned through the sense
of touch. One of the most important among such properties is
hardness, defined as the ability of one mineral to scratch another.
Hardness is measured by the Mohs scale, introduced in 1812 by the
German mineralogist Friedrich Mohs (1773-1839).

The scale rates minerals from 1 to 10, with 1 being equivalent to the
hardness of talc, a mineral so soft that it is used for making talcum
powder. A 2 on the Mohs scale is the hardness of gypsum, which is still
so soft that it can be scratched by a human fingernail. Above a 5 on
the scale, roughly equal to the hardness of a pocketknife or glass, are
potassium feldspar (6), quartz (7), topaz (8), corundum (9), and
diamond (10).

Rocks and Human Existence

Rocks are all around us, especially in our building materials but also in
everything from jewelry to chalk. Then, of course, there are the rocks
that exist in nature, whether in our backyards or in some more
dramatic setting, such as a national park or along a rugged coastline.
Indeed, humans have a long history of involvement with rocks—a
history that goes far back to the aptly named Stone Age.

The latter term refers to a period in which the most sophisticated

human tools were those made of rock—that is, before the development
of the first important alloy used in making tools, bronze. The Bronze
Age began in the Near East in about 3300 B.C. and lasted until about
1200 B.C., when the development of iron-making technology introduced
still more advanced varieties of tools.

These dates apply to the Near East, specifically to such areas as

Mesopotamia and Egypt, which took the lead in ancient technology,
followed much later by China and the Indus Valley civilization of what is
now Pakistan. The rest of the world was even slower in adopting the
use of metal: for instance, the civilizations of the Americas did not
enter the Bronze Age for almost 4,000 years, in about A.D. 1100. Nor
did they ever develop iron tools before the arrival of the Europeans in
about 1500.
While sand is generally harmless, one must take care with some
activities involving sand such as sandblasting. Bags of silica sand used
for sandblasting now carry labels warning the user to wear respiratory
protection and avoid breathing the fine silica dust. There have been a
number of lawsuits in recent years where workers have developed
silicosis, a lung disease caused by inhalation of fine silica particles over
long periods of time. Material safety data sheets (MSDS) for silica sand
state that "excessive inhalation of crystalline silica is a serious health
concern".[1]

In areas of high pore water pressure sand can partially liquefy to form
quicksand. Quicksand, once dried, produces a considerable barrier to
escape for creatures caught within, who often die from exposure as a
result.