sand, mineral, rock, or soil particles that range in diameter from 0.02 to 2 mm (0.0008–0.08 inch). Most of the rock-forming minerals that occur on the Earth’s surface are found in sand, but only a limited number are common in this form. Although in some localities feldspar, calcareous material, iron ores, and volcanic glass are dominant constituents of sand, quartz is by far the commonest, for several reasons: it is abundant in rocks, is comparatively hard, has practically no cleavage so that it is not readily worn down, is nearly insoluble in water, and does not decompose. Most quartzose sands contain a small quantity of feldspar, as well as small plates of white mica, which, though soft, decompose slowly.
All sands contain small quantities of heavy rock-forming minerals, including garnet, tourmaline, zircon, rutile, topaz, pyroxenes, and amphiboles. In some shore and river sands these heavier constituents, as well as some of the heavy native elements, become concentrated as a result of sorting by currents and the removal of the lighter constituents. Such placer sands may be economically valuable deposits worked for diamonds and other gemstones, gold, platinum, tin, monazite, and other ores. Greensands, widely distributed over the floor of the ocean and found in ancient strata on the continents, owe their colour to the presence of glauconite, a potash-bearing mineral; these sands are used for water softeners.
In the pottery and glassmaking industries very pure quartzose sands are used as a source of silica. Similar sands are required for lining the hearths of acid-steel furnaces. Molds used in foundries for casting metal are made of sand with a clay binder. Quartz and garnet sands are used extensively as abrasives. Ordinary sands find a multitude of other uses—e.g., in the preparation of mortar, cement, and concrete.