Quite often you come across sand that stands out from the other sand close by, usually by colour but sometimes by size or texture. In this page I'd like to share a few of the more interesting samples I've found during my sand collecting field trips.

One of the most remarkable samples of sand I've found was discovered while visiting a sand and gravel pit not far from my home near Edinburgh. The sand was found in a 2.50 metre high exposure in the quarry face and what was most noticeable about the sample was how different it's colour was from the surrounding sand, a bright ginger colour, rather than the reddish brown of much of the sand in the vicinity. The patch was very small, no larger than a paperback book but enough to gather a sample.

The next most interesting sample I came across was not actually sand at all, it was actually a very fine clay material and what drew my attention was the colour, bright orange. Again, it was found in a sand and gravel pit, although a different one from the previous example. When discovered the sample was simply a block of orange clay protruding from the boulder clay face of the quarry. It was saturated with water and very sticky, clinging to everything that came in contact with it. Even later, when dried, it still had the ability to adhere to everything.

Another find, definitely not classed as sand, but collectable nevertheless, was initially found along the beaches of Longniddry Bents, to the east of Edinburgh, and also along many of the Fife beaches across the Firth of Forth. The sample was actually made up of tiny particles of coal. In most cases it only presented a thin skin on the sand but at Kinghorn in Fife drifts over 150 mm deep were quite common. It is possible that the coal has come from undersea coal seams out in the Firth of Firth, a theory later confirmed by notes in geological guides of the area.

A unexpected find was black sand discovered to the east of Aberdour in Fife, in a small bay with the name of Port Haven. At first I thought the black sand was simply coal but immediately upon scooping up a sample the additional weight was quite obvious and this sand had to be more than just mere coal. It was only later back home with the aid of a magnet that I realised this beach was composed almost entirely of small grains of magnetite, an iron rich rock, the particles no doubt weathered by time and tide from the native igneous rocks that are abundant in the area.

A rather wet Sunday afternoon visit to a local sand & gravel pit produced an interesting find in the way of a small boulder of decomposed black sandstone. The boulder was so soft and friable that I was able to collect a sample of sand with my trusty teaspoon. Finding this black sandstone was a first for me and I suspect it might have once been a sandstone bed associated geologically with a coal seam, picking up it's black colouring from the coal seam above. Whatever the origin of this stone, it gave me a most unusual and rare sample, at least for my local area.

So, it just goes to show that there are more varieties of sand out there than just the stuff you find on the beach or in the dunes and it's well worth keeping any eye out for some of the more interesting examples, such as those mentioned above'

Scoughall, East Lothian