I am not talking about the Sand Man, I’m talking about the sand that get’s in between your toes, and ends up making its way back to your house some how and even after you think you have vacuumed your house good enough you still manage to find more of.
After driving back from visiting my mom who lives in this area, I got the idea for this Earth Cache, I realized that when I was in grade school and in college I never learned what sand was or I never really paid attention.
What is sand?
Sand comes from minerals, quartz, silicon, dioxide, sodium, calcium, potassium, silica and feldspar. These tiny grains came from igneous and metamorphic rocks that are very old yes much old than you. Quartz is the most common mineral, which is also very hard, durable and chemically stable than other chemicals.
How many colors are there of sand?
Beaches come in a wide range of color, white, yellow, and red, black, tan. We have to keep in mind location, that geology determines the color of the sand. In Hawaii there is black basalt that makes the sand black, and on the beaches Ragland, New Zealand they have magnetic iron sand, which comes from a mixture of things from offshore, and taupo rhyolitic ( see photos below). On the panhandle of Florida you can find white sand that comes from the carbonate shelf that the panhandle sits on. Again it all depends on your location.
Image Image
Photos above are the beaches of Ragland New Zeland.Thank you Greysqrl!
Photo below of Cape May, taken by Tooie11
Image
What qualifies as sand?
There are two things that help us determine what can qualify as sand. The first thing is the energy and height of the waves, second is the size of the materials that are brought on to shore from the waves. Larger waves will keep the smaller grains of sand offshore. The sand in dunes is finer than the sand down near the water simply because of the waves that blow the sand across the beach. The winds carry the finer grains and leave the larger, heavier grains behind.
What is a beach?
A beach is a landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. They are also the end result of many many many years of weathering. The size of the grains of sand determines the slopes of the beach. Beaches with finer grains tend to be flatter with gentler slopes between (high tide and low tide). Beaches with coarser grains tends to have greater slopes. This also has to do with the finer sands ability to absorb water.
What type of beach is this?
Well first off we need to know that there are four types of beaches. Barrier island beaches are beaches that start and end in the water and cover vast portions of our world’s coast. Mainland beaches are simply where the land meets, thus many of the world’s beaches. The third type of beach is called a spit, which is a combination of barrier island beaches and mainland beaches. The fourth is called a pocket beach, sadly this is not the kind that can fit in your pocket, this is a unique type of beach that comes with exposed bedrock that is nestled between rocky coastal outcrops. With that being said and knowing that Cape May is and island and not a spit we can concur that Cape May Beach is a mainland beach.
How did this sand get here?
You see those waves out there? Well, the waves slowly push the sand and shells from great depths. This is call long shore drift. Long shore drift consist of transportation of sediments along a coast at an angle to the shore line which is depends on the wind direction and turbulence of the waves that occur in the littoral zone which is the closest to the shoreline. Sand bars or offshore bars are submerged or partly exposed ridge of sand or coarse sediment that is built by waves offshore. Tidal deltas are similar to sandbars but with an added feature of the tide. Bluffs or cliffs that back the beach area can also bring sand to the shore line.. If there are low bluffs or low cut banks present then these can help create a narrow beach.
How long has this sand been here?
This sand has been here longer than you and I, and certainly longer than the Kechemeche tribe of the Lenni Lenape that once lived in this area. This tribe became the first to use the Cape May diamonds to trades for others goods and for gifts.
In order for you earn your smiley, your tasks are quite simple
- Optional, but highly recommended, at the cords or close to it write your geocaching name in the sand and post the photo in your log. For your next few tasks please email me your responses (via my profile)
- In your own words , describe the temperature, is it hot or cold or warm, please tell me where you getting your temperate (near the water, near the walking path).
- In your own words describe the color of the sand.
- In your own words describe the texture of the sand, is it fine or coarse and how do you know this.
- Cape May is a very clean beach please help keep it this way and if you see any trash please practice any CITO, thank you.