Type of Submission
Poster
Keywords
Sand, beach, California
Campus Venue
Dixon Ministry Center, Alumni Hall
Location
Cedarville, OH
Start Date
4-10-2013 1:00 PM
End Date
4-10-2013 5:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Apr 10th, 1:00 PM
Apr 10th, 5:00 PM
Analysis of California Coastal Dune and Beach Sand Samples
Cedarville, OH
Comments
Abstract:
Samples of dune and beach sand from four locations along the California coast were collected and analyzed through sieving, XRD, and thin section. The mineralogy, average grain size, sorting, and average rounding values of feldspar and quartz grains were studied. The small sample selection and resulting data field do not allow significant conclusions to be reached, yet suggestions based on the data about processes affecting coastal sand are discussed. It was determined that further study and experimentation in each of these areas is needed: eolian depositional processes may preferentially retain quartz and lose feldspars; an increase in sorting and decrease in grain size from beach to dune locations may be due to eolian processes; there may exist a sorting "threshold" beyond which eolian processes will not increase sorting; preferential transportation of rounded sand grains may occur within a few feet of the waterline, even on the beach, and continuing movement to the dunes might result in no further change in rounding; there may be a rounding "threshold" for different mineral grains beyond which abrasion and possibly preferential transportation become insignificant; chemical solution or deposition, depending on the amount of moisture and its composition, may factor into shaping sand grains along coastal dunes and beaches; and eolian transportation of mica grains over relatively short distances (hundreds of meters) may result in a decrease in concentration and long-axis length.