**You will need two clear bottles, jars or clear sealed containers the same size and enough fresh water to fill them to adequately complete this EC. A small amount of Vinegar would also be helpful but not essential.
Welcome to another part of Paradise, an extremely quiet and scenic location, how many different footprints do you see? What do they belong too?
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles. It is defined by size, being finer than gravel and coarser than silt.
The composition of sand varies, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the 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 the most common mineral resistant to weathering.
The second most common type of sand is calcium carbonate, for example aragonite, which has mostly been created, over the past half billion years, by various forms of life, like coral and shellfish.
In terms of particle size as used by geologists, sand particles range in diameter from 0.0625 mm (or 1⁄16 mm) to 2 mm. An individual particle in this range size is termed a sand grain. Sand grains are between gravel (with particles ranging from 2 mm up to 64 mm) and silt (particles smaller than 0.0625 mm down to 0.004 mm).
The composition of mineral 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, suggesting sand formation depends on living organisms, too. The gypsum sand dunes of the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico are famous for their bright, white colour. Arkose is a sand or sandstone with considerable feldspar content, derived from weathering and erosion of a (usually nearby) granitic rock outcrop. Some sands contain magnetite, chlorite, glauconiteor gypsum. Sands rich in magnetite are dark to black in colour, as are sands derived from volcanic basalts and obsidian. Chlorite-glauconite bearing sands are typically green in colour, as are sands derived from basaltic (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.
The study of individual grains can reveal much historical information as to the origin and kind of transport of the grain. Quartz sand that is recently weathered from granite or gneiss quartz crystals will be angular. It is called grus in geology or sharp sand in the building trade where it is preferred for concrete, and in gardening where it is used as a soil amendment to loosen clay soils. Sand that is transported long distances by water or wind will be rounded, with characteristic abrasion patterns on the grain surface. Desert sand is typically rounded.
To log this Earth Cache we require you to conduct an experiment and consider the information given, perhaps you need to do some research of your own, then message us with the following answers to the best of your ability;
1. When standing on the beach use the Sand card provided to determine what size the sand is here?
2. Is the sand round or angular at this beach, what does that suggest?
3. What do you think the composition of this sand is? If you have vinegar available a small drop on a small sample of sand will help you answer this question.
4. Using the containers you have brought with you, half fill one with the beach sand and half fill the other with the sand close to the carpark that is stained by the bulldust. Fill the remaining space in the container with fresh water and shake! Let the containers sit for a short amount of time (go for a walk on the beach during this time) and several layers should appear. Describe the layers you see, what do they show and how thick they are. How different are the two samples and why are they different?
5. A photo of your team, GPS or the view with your log please. (Optional)
You are welcome to log your find straight away to keep your TB's and Stats in order but please message us with your answers within 24 hours. Cachers who do not fulfil the Earth Cache requirement will have their logs deleted.
While you are in the area check out the RAAF RADAR STATION #52 and if you are feeling rally adventurous the mouth of the Jardine, both listed as points of interest on this cache page.
Source: Wikipedia, dynamicmonitors.com