PinkSand Beach

PinkSand Beach
What Causes Pink Sand?
Sand grains are formed when rock or other hard material is broken down by waves, a process that can take thousands of years. Beaches with pebbles or course sand are very young while beaches with fine sand are older. The color of sand grains comes from the original material that formed the sand.

For example, white sand on tropical beaches is pulverized pieces of dead coral. (Coral skeleton is white because it is made of calcium carbonate, a mineral also found in chalk and human bones.) The green beach on the big island of Hawaii is green because the particular kind of rock that formed the sand (a type of cooled lava called basalt) has high amounts of a green mineral called olivine.

The reason for Bermuda's pinksand is because red tiny organisms grow under the coral reefs and die on the ocean floor. These along with bits of corals and shells get washed up, get mixed with sands and create a pink hue.

Article:
http://unusualearth.com/2013/02/pink-sand-beaches-the-world/
http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=77

Image via Wikipedia Commons

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