Quartz crystals Archives - Leave Only Footprints

Why is the sand on Alabama’s beaches so white?

By lofadmin|2018-10-17T13:31:36+00:00October 17th, 2018|Blog|1 Comment

When you sink your toes in the sand on Alabama beaches do you marvel at how soft and white it is? “Sugar-white sand” is a common way visitors describe our beaches, and we’re proud of those spectacular shorelines. Just take a quick look at tripadvisor.com reviews of our beaches to see what we mean: “Nice white sand that doesn't ever seem to get hot.” “Great day and the water was perfect, greenish blue with white sand.” “Right at the end [...]

Why is our Alabama Gulf Coast sand so soft and white?

By lofadmin|2018-02-07T15:23:43+00:00February 7th, 2018|Blog|5 Comments

Everyone loves getting their toes in the sand along Alabama’s beautiful beaches, but do you know how that sand is created? Our sand is softer and finer than you see on most other beaches around the world. That’s the result of pure, white quartz crystal that washed down from the Appalachian Mountains and was deposited in the Gulf of Mexico. According to Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University (aka Dr. Beach), [...]