| Advanced
Most of the sand that can be easily collected is found on
the surface of the land, along the coast, along river banks
and so on. But there are also other sands that can be
collected, secret sands, hidden away from the prying eyes of
Sand Collecting.
The sands that the dedicated enthusiast might want
to investigate and collect are the sands that lie submerged
below the surface of rivers, lakes and the sea. These sands
are not readily accessible unless you are into diving or
have a handy personal submersible in the boat house.
However, there
are other ways of getting samples.
Scientific institutions have access to specialist
equipment for sampling sand and soil from such locations but few sand
collectors have the means to purchase such equipment and
have to make do with more Heath-Robinson style contraptions
- essentially a heavy metal container of some sort and a
length of rope.
The technique is simple, just find a suitable location
and throw in the container, keeping hold of the rope end.
Then drag the container across the sand and see what comes
up. It sometimes takes a bit of trail and effort to get
anything into the container but this method can produce
collectable samples from locations that would otherwise be
unobtainable. Whatever the results, it's great fun trying!
Another technique for accessing hidden sands is the sand
auger. This is essentially a metal rod with a hollow scoop
on the end. The auger is pushed down into the ground and
then withdrawn with the sample in the collecting scoop.
These can be used along sandy river banks, at the beach or
even in swamps. Some augers can be extended to many meters
depth. On the down side, this type of kit is expensive and
collectors who are good with their hands can easily fashion
something that works from tubular steel. |
