Why is All Sand the Same?
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- Опубликовано: 25 ноя 2013
- Sand, whether you use it for building sand castles, telling time with an hourglass, or hydraulic fracturing, is pretty much the same just about anywhere you go -- an uncountable number of tiny grains mixed together to form the same dunes and beaches. But why does sand almost always look the same?
Note: "ortoclase" at 0:59 should be "orthoclase"
CREDITS
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Created by Henry Reich
Video Concept and Writing: Meg Rosenburg
Writing and Editing Team: Alex Reich, Peter Reich, Emily Elert
Animation: Ever Salazar
Music: Nathaniel Schroeder
MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC
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REFERENCES
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Assallay, A. M., Rogers, C. D. F., Smalley, I. J., & Jefferson, I. F. 1998. Silt: 2--62 μm, 9--4φ. Earth-Science Reviews 45(1): 61-88. www.sciencedirect.com/science/...
Bruce Wilkinson, Geology Professor, Syracuse University (personal communication)
Krinsley, D. H., & Smalley, I. J. 1972. Sand: The study of quartz sand in sediments provides much information about ancient geological environments. American Scientist 60(3): 286-291. www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307...
IMAGE CREDITS
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Sand from Gobi Desert en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:San... Photo by: Siim Sepp
Ruler commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil... Image by: Dnu72
Black Sand Beach: www.flickr.com/photos/scottiet... Photo by: ScottieT812
Red Sand Beach: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil... Photo by: Tom Walsh
White Sand Beach: www.flickr.com/photos/diueine/... Photo by: Diueine Monteiro
Dunes: www.flickr.com/photos/davidsta... Photo by: David Stanley
Sand Mining commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil... by: Aktron / Wikimedia Commons
Beach Photos: Photo by: Myrabella / Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...
Photo by: José Porras commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...
Photo by: Viscious81 / Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...
Photo by: Myrabella / Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...
Photo by: Sengkang commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...
Photo by: Sean O'Flaherty commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...
Photo by: Ayaita commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...
Photo by: Peter V. Sanchez commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...
Photo by: Allan Patrick commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...
Photo by: cogito ergo imago www.flickr.com/photos/37244380...
Photo by: Wicho 2 commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...
Photo by: Herbert Vieira commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...
Photo by: Urville86 commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...
Photo by: Angelo Juan Ramos commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...
Photo by: Magnus Manske commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...
Photo by: Daniel Schwen commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil... 
Наука
I don't like silicon dioxide. It's coarse and rough and it gets everywhere.
Yeah I hate that
True
Kyle Netherwood is that starwar prequel memes?
I donno why that is ssso famous
It gets everywhere
But you are using a machine that was a pile of silicon dioxide 10yrs ago
1:04 Dropping that wisdom as well I see.
+Ewing Ho Hahahaha
Lol
+Ewing Ho LOL i noticed that as well. Quick commercial for love...
Ewing Ho ii
It seems the vid OP has been burned. :)
That's a question: How does sand get into deserts?
Erosion does not need water. Heat fluctuation to break stone and winds are enough.
...not to say I know, because I just guess/remember.
Winds slowing down in a certain area can deposit sand just as potently as rivers do and a whirlpool of sand can erode the surrounding stones even further. The lack of water is even needed for a patch of sand to grow into a desert. Wet sand does not fly...
Sooo... it may not be the sand that "gets into the desert" but the rest that goes away.
Plus there is sand now where are no oceans or rivers any more but they used to be there long time ago. If the place is covered by a layer of something else or is wet the sand stays put. Than when it dries out and/or the cover gets eroded away you get a deset.
^This can be a process called "desertification", which is allowing the Sahara to quite rapidly expand southward into (formerly) sub-Saharan Africa as we speak. Deforestation increases moisture loss in soil (via wind and sun exposure), causing the organic "soily" bits to dry out and break down, leaving only the rocky bits (sand). When there's insufficient rain or irrigation to replace that soil moisture you get desertification (like the Dust Bowl in 1930's America).
Aliens
@@PongoXBongo Sahara used to be an ocean (or sea, don't remember) once. So river sediments (ones that flowed to the ocean in Sahara) + time + location un tropics + global temperature increase = desert.
And btw, 70% of sahara is actually rocky desert.
no the real question is how do deserts get into sand
A gemstone we call amethyst is actually quartz that got its color due to impurites. It is, basically, an impure mineral that is worth more then it's pure counterpart. Veriety really is the spice of life.
glass is in theory one of the most pure ,but its the worthless
There are actually a lot of different varieties of quartz with different impurities, I think that the coloration of amethyst is caused primarily by iron. Not going to claim anything though.
Did a quick search, and I somehow forgot about citrine, smoky quartz, rose quartz and others
its the same deal with ruby and sapphire there pure form which i forget the name of is worth less
Variety**
@@UserOfTheName the pure form is called corrundum, and its just about worthless. It is litterally what happens when you rust aluminum,l. However throw in some chromium, and you got a ruby.
that ending was beautiful
As a geologist, I'd just like to say this is a great and simple explanation with perfect detail but without getting too technical. Well done.
This channel taught me more about the mineral composition of sand in 2 minutes than 3 days at my Geology class.
Who are you
@@gray_el6551 some guy without a mustache
Also SOT
same
maybe it's just me, but....damn, I was kind of extremely impressed by that sands of time image at the end O.o
You're not alone!
Yup
Re
As someone who grew up on an island, never farther than 10 minutes away from a beach, this just changed my whole perception of this little piece of world I came to be so familiar with.
Thanks for that, awesome video
I like what he did on the end :3
The author of this is obviously not a geologist. A sedimentologist can identify which outcrop sand comes from with a petrographic microscope. Sand is a size--one may as well ask "why are all inches the same?" What is being discussed here is mature sand: very round, overwhelmingly quartz sand. Immature/young sands have a higher proportion of unstable minerals, and angular grains, due to their closer proximity to the source material. I've worked with some formations where the source was so close to the depositional setting that there was, essentially, no change in the material, even the least stable grains (micas and feldspars in this case)--in fact, the only way to tell the difference between "source" and "sediment" was how hard the stuff was!
You are a native speaker, aren't you? I tried to say something similar (not as detailed as you and only from a point of view of someone who still goes to school) in a comment before, but then I realized I lack the english words...
Thank you for saying this! I did my thesis on the mineralogy of stream sediments in Cuba.. the title of this video set off alarms in my head :)
If I recall correctly, only a specific type of sand can actually be used in concrete manufacturing.
Sand is also made by fish eating coral, digesting it, and hurlin' it outta their poop chute.
^Yep
Hey Egoraptor, we got some poopy castles.
That's true. Sand is part fish shit.
The amount of times that "Shit" has gotten into my mouth....
I’ve been walking in fish shit
wow that image to go along with the sands of time pun at the end, just wow
Takes me back to that one geology class I took.
We all had that one geology class.
Geology? No, you've gotta apply to take that class; it's not required in public schools
one of my favorite classes. such a joy to be able to look at the world and know what you're seeing
Madmagicanman1 I think you took "we all" more literally than it was.
I actually haven't had that one yet. I'll probably have it next year.
Never took geology. At least I don't remember.
Interdasting
not as interesting as hot women's butts! Am I right, or am I right camera man?
No, you're not right. You're left.
Interdasting should be a new word
EpicTube I agree. I laughed so hard when I see that word haha
No
I teach an introductory/for all majors Earth Science lab. I wish I this video was a few weeks earlier because I would have definitely emailed them to remind them what they needed to know for their lab final. Good thing I'm teaching the same lab next term and will definitely use this for a simple review and to get my students thinking about the rock cycle (which they always struggle on). Anyways, great video!
That probably was one of the best episodes of Minute Earth yet. Fascinating!
I was taught it was the waves eroding the rock on the shore that caused sandy beaches
I always thought that too!
Yep, me too. But if you think about, that makes no sense. There would be no consistency in the grain size.
In the video he talked about the mineral quartz, which makes up a large proportion of sedimentary rocks you find near river banks or beaches, such as sandstone. Overtime the rock is weathered and eroded into smaller and smaller particles until it becomes sand. So what you learnt is still correct.
fewwef weffefwf Ugh, people have been saying that for centuries in order to avoid having to admit they can't understand simple concepts, so they pick an even simpler concept and claim it explains everything.This is most not good for learn new stuff.
fewwef weffefwf lol
LOL @ the relationship metaphor.
ZackATTACK42
ZackATTACK42 h
ZackATTACK42 Someone doesn't know what a reply button is
Though mostly correct and yes the formation you describe does occur. Quartz would not usually crystallize in the same location as amphibolite and olivine. As those weaker "mafic", meaning silica poor, silicate minerals like olivine cool and solidify at the higher temperatures they tend to settle to the bottom of the magma chamber. leaving, more felsic minerals like feldspar, mica, and quartz to form the top of the cooling magma chamber. The reason most beaches are made of this quartz not olivine is because of how small olivine particles tend to be because of their weak structural bonds their size makes them more likely to be washed out to sea, while the larger stronger quartz particles settle out.
+manawesome326
O_o?
This is great video.
i like gettin' brain learned.
Aren't you afearin your brain will splode?
@byron141 Hi good to see ya again.....yes I'm still modeling part time
summerShine03 No one asked.
summerShine03
I've seen these comments in a couple of places now. You really do get around RUclips telling this Byron guy that you're still modeling, don't you?
Blarghalt I
Another great video guys!! You have taught me so much over the last year, so thank you! :-)
The illustrations were particularly pretty this video. Thank you.
WOW this was prolly the best answer ever, and all the explanation makes sense.
A lot more interesting and complete and (hopefully) correct than just "sand is rocks that have been broken down by the waves". Neat!
I've played on a black sand beach on the Avalon peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. It was pretty cool. It also stuck to the skin tenaciously (I'm guessing since it was presumably flakes of volcanic rock rather than quartz particles; the Avalon Peninsula is volcanic in origin).
But sands (even beach sands) are definitely NOT all the same. Even here on Guam (tiny ass pacific island) we have at LEAST 3 different types of sand, and varying mixtures of them and other "dirt". "Normal" Quartz sand, Limestone sands, and Volcanic sands.
Yup. I commented before finishing the video. 👌🏽
But regardless, he did make the majority of his video about quartz sand, and the title is "Why are all sands the same?"
Soooo, that's really what I'm talking about here.
Jordan Bukikosa because he means most sands
I commented on the same thing, don't worry you're not alone. :)
+Jordan
Is standard quartz sand by definition "sand", and all other types of sand require the prefix of type to properly represent them?
I know this is true with some other words but I'm blanking at the moment.
I'll try this one, but I'm not 100% sure that it works.
Water == fresh water
but salt water always requires the term "salt" in front of it. Unless, you are referring to a body of water, then it be comes "the" (definite article) water.
I seriously doubt it is grammatically so, but practicality comes into play and since most sands people know are quartz based sand, "sand" usually refers to quartz sand. It's not a rule, though.
Sand only looks all the same to an ignorant person. Also, sand is horrible at driving.
Sand doesn't drive.
ED LV rly
Binkie, 1:48 ...
@chad628 Hi so bored today
@russell427 Hi time to clean the browser history again :/
this was a great one. i love minute physics and min earth for these kinds of videos that totally suprise me on how little i know about something i probably have on me right now. thanks for the great vids, keep them up.... I NEED TO LEARN MORE!!!!!!!
This was definitely one of your better videos (says a lot).. The flow was perfect!
Another brilliant video, thanks for all the help you and others give with your informational videos :)
Wow! I didn't know a video could be so educational and entertaining at the same time!
Beautiful. Poetic. Most importantly, enlightening. This was one of your best videos. :)
Beautifully explained, thank you!
This is one of your best videos! Love it!
So much drawing in this one! Must have taken a long time. Nice job!
another great and informative video great work you have my like
That background jazz is smoother than a perfect sphere of silicon to redefine the kilogram.
There are hobbyists who collect sand from different beaches all over the Earth. Sand samples from different beaches each have their own unique characteristics, including not only color, but even how the sand "sounds" when you shake the sample. While the chemical composition of all sand is basically the same, there are certainly other subtle traits that distinguish the sand from different places on Earth. I recall that there are perhaps hundreds of varieties of naturally occurring sand.
This presentation was well rounded and beauty. I am thankful for it's creation.
wow :D I never thought sand was so fascinating. Or is it fascinating now that you've explained it, given how everything you explain seems to _become_ fascinating? What comes first, fascinating topic or Henry explaining it? Can Henry explain an issue and not make it fascinating? Aaaah!
The music is so relaxing
Ty for this video, can't wait to show this to our grandchildren:) I love your channel.
From a geologists definition, sand is not about composition, it is about grain size only. The grain size of Sand is the easiest to erode and the easiest to transport by water. Small enough to be easily eroded and transported by water, and also large enough not be electrostaticly bound together, such as with silt. So of you take a sandy beach on an isolated island in the south Pacific, the lighter colored sand on the beaches is literally remnants of sea shells and other sea life. On the Hawaiian islands, the indigenous sand is black and has basaltic origins, lots of obsidian; as opposed to sand that has a granitic or metamorphosed sedementary rock origins. Virtually all of the white sand in Hawaii is imported.
One of the sand assignments in college was to determine where several different samples of sand originated, and its respective chemical composition. That was a good one ;-)
love is like sand, take that anakin skywalker!
you explain the forming of beaches MUCH Better then my geology teacher.. . and you're just a youtuber! what's wrong with this world's education?!
+Kaleb Bruwer not educations fault (unless you're in USA... ish), it's just different people learn at different rates to different methods and teachers. This is how some kids can just attend 1 class and then ace the test for that subject and how some other people who had the same starting knowledge and will to learn take months to do the same (and possibly do worse)
It has to do with attention span, short term and long term memory, memorisation skills, and ways you think which can also mean your life style and what you do for a hobby.
Someone would have found your geology teacher the best one on the world, you find them useless.
You found this YT channel as amazing and the best source of learning, some people out there do not and think it's a waste of time (ie. look at downvotes)
Also this isn't fully explaining how beaches are formed, it slightly works in reverse as the waves push some sediments and stuff upwards onto the beach, this is how some corral or shell beaches come as well some normal ones.
R4V3-0N
South Africa. our teacher just gave us some kind of scetch that shows a river pouring into the sea at a wbeach with a arrow showing the sea current and said that beaches are formed from waste that the river brought down.\
also, this at least explains where the material comes from. if beaches were really formed of waste, none of them would be the same .
+R4V3-0N "and ways you think" that shit made me a failure in school, no idea how to learn stuff.
That's a great question!
Why is this video more compelling than your teacher?
Is it failing global education systems? Maybe.
Certainly there's room in our education system for inclusion of more materials like this video.
But why else might this video be better than your teacher at explaining certain things? And is that a damning indictment against global education?
1) At least seven professionals were involved in the production of this video.
2) These videos receive around $1000 per minute from Patreon alone, excluding ad revenues etc.
3) Whether you have a good geology teacher is probably not a strong metric for global education standards.
'Just a RUclipsr'. How do you know he doesn't have better qualifications than your geology teacher?
Damn I like this channel! Often find unknown words even though my english is good. Theres always something to look forward to in these videos!
That was brilliant. Really good. Thanks.
i liked the drawings in this one. good job.
You should talk about the black sand beaches in a later episode as a follow-up :)
That was really good. You can tell that a lot of effort and time went into it.
I love these videos keep it up!
only if minutephysics could be like this
Very interesting and educational video. Thanks for sharing! The only difference between sands is the size of the sand particles. There are very fine sands which have very small particles, and then there are course sands made up of larger particles.
Good point,but what size does a grain of sand become a small rock? Just a question.
@@ankithtirumala6259 Here's a koan I made up about a decade ago similar to your question. "How long is a piece of string?"
Cool video. Really gets into the nitty gritty details. Very granular.
Great video. loved it!
Sand, another fine example of physics at work over a long period of time.
what do you mean by physics? its chemistry physics just spreads the sand and still with help of chemistry
Gytis Janulevičius I was thinking MinutePhysics, but this videos is on MinuteEarth, so sure, chemistry as well :-)
Gytis Janulevičius
All of biology is chemistry, and all of chemistry is physics. The study of physics subsumes all other scientific disciplines because physics is "the study of the universe".
Last time I checked, sand is in the universe.
What if it's transdimensional sand? Is it still physics then?
Jeremy Wall
If we discover something, it is necessarily part of the universe.
Then what about Sahara Desert or middle east? Really intrigue by this episode topic.
Awesome video, well done guys and keep them up! :)
one of ur many great videos... good job
Good stuff.
You kind of forgot long shore drift, one of the most common ways sand is transported along shore lines.
I used this as topic as my oral present. Minute Earth helps me a lot !
Awesome video, as always.
Epic!
I love this
Damn you're good. Concise, accurate, and entertaining. Bravo.
Congrats on 1 million!
I haven't even watched it and I know this is a trick question. Sand isn't the same. No piece of sand is similar.
Azure Kite Nah, each piece of sand is unique. Sand isn't just made of quartz, although that's a big portion of it. Sand is made up of almost everything else from the word, too.
No piece of sand is 'similar'? Chemistry is not on your side there mate
Neceros The question implied sand in the general meaning, not the grains by themselves.
Maxflay3r Ah. Well then ignore my statement.
one last thing, you were looking for the word "same", not "similar"
all sand is similar, all though they are not the same
DAT ENDING PICTURE!!
That was really nice! Thanks 😊
these kinds of videos are your best good job make more =) please
I need to do my homework but this is much too interesting!
Thank god this is my homework!
Jebidiah Kerman *glares with jealousy*
MrWeathermaniac How did you escape the asterisks? ._.
Whenever I put asterisks around text, *it makes it bold like this*.
yellowcrash10 .... I have NO idea ._."
MrWeathermaniac :'(
I know this takes time to make but i with there was more.
Very well made video. Also, it taught me something about quartz. :)
loved the music in this one
Okay now is sand... how about Snowflakes on another vid? :D
Well... Snow flakes are just frozen water... And well water's water.
Eddy Murphy Well, I sure thought sand was made of sand. And sand's sand. I learned a pretty good amount of knowledge from this video. Snow flakes would be a nice sequel.
Eddy Murphy And sand is sand, right?
The clouds that form rain/snow are spread or form all across the world. Snow isn't really different because it's all water and H2O is the same everywhere so when it freezes it makes ice and snow. Earth shares the same ingredients for clouds so it's basically all the same stuff just in different locations. Like the quartz from the inside of the Earth.
Involuntary smile across my face at the very end of the video
Not sure when the new format came, but I like it!
Very clever presentation. I love it!
I was always told that sand you find on a beach is just little bits of shell from various sea organisms that have been crushed by water and eroded by water enough to make those tiny shapes, and the reason it's all pretty similar is because of the physical and chemical properties of it leading to a diminishing returns in the erosion department.
Is this not a factor?
+Naomi Nekomimi It depends on the beach. Some beaches have a higher amount of calcium carbonate sand, the kind you get from dead shelled creatures, coral, and the waste of those that eat them.
Indeed they are sand sized carbonate grains. Sand is just a size parameter. Any minerals whose size are similar to sand is called sand.
What about the sand in deserts?
prettty much every dessert was once part of a sea or ocean
on the eight day god created the deserts
nice video.. i really enjoyed the lesson and i loved it...
gosh darn i love your videos
Oh but now I wanna know why there's black sand, and red sand, and sand far from beaches....?
different colours from different materials: quartz sand is the most common and white or yellowish (quartz sand turns yellow when the quartz in it starts rusting); but just like there is quartz sand from granitic rocks, there is black sand from basaltic rocks. Red sand is very unusual but I've read that is "organic" sand because it is made out of small red leftovers of plankton and other life forms wich happen to be red, and there is white versions of this "oganical" sand too.
The sand far from the beaches is easily explainable because of the wind.
SciGuy not in a human scale, but over thousands of years it does
Probably not on any time scale. The highest oxidation state of silicon ever observed is +4 in compounds like silicon dioxide, silicon tetrafluoride, and hexafluorosilicic acid. There is no reason to believe it is even possible to oxidize it any further, especially naturally on Earth.
That is false, +EebstertheGreat is right
Yeah
Wait, so when I go to the beach the sand in between my toes are actually like thousands of years old?
More likely millions of years.
Well, what did you think? That beaches are manufactured new every other decade?
Even if they were, that doesn't change the fact that the materials used to produce said "beaches" has to come from our current universe, which is inherently 13.8 billion years old.
Yeah. Your beach is old.
Yes, and so is water, which will gross you out once you think about it. Water most probably passed through hundred of animals before we drink them, and the thought of that makes me uncomfortable.
And it’s fish shit
Daaaaymn, this episode was strangely elegant. And very interesting! Thanks very much to Minute Physics!
Beautiful animation/drawings.
Ah yes, minute physics! No ten seconds physics lol
This is Minute Earth. Also, the ten second videos do not interfere with the ~2 minute ones.
I fucking love this channel
I fucking love science!
And the facebook page of the same name! (which is the only reason I still have an account on that thing)
Good narration, good wording, i like it....
i so love the guy's voice + sooo interesting and easy to remember!
How Can Mirrors be Real If Our Eyes Don't Real
How can your eyes not real if real isn't a verb?
Damn, that was a cool thing to learn :)
Fascinating!
This is amazing!
I shall never look at sand the same way again. O.O
Much prefer these videos to the 10 second ones.
Different channel though, but yeah, I agree.
ApplepieFTW Oh ya... lol didn't notice that.
Well in Australia or the part I live in, when I go to different beaches, there is different size and colour sand. Some are almost red, some have large gravel type sand, some have smooth creamy coloured sand and some is almost white.
I always thought that the ocean over thousands of years crushed the rocky land into sand. I guess you learn something new every day.