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Sand was used as early as 6000 B.C. to grind and polish stones to make
sharpened tools and other objects. The stones were rubbed on a piece
of wetted sandstone to hone the cutting edge. In some cases, loose
sand was scattered on a flat rock, and objects were rubbed against the
sandy surface to smooth them. The first beads with a glass glaze
appeared in Egypt in about 3,500-3,000 B.C. The glass was made by
melting sand, although naturally-occurring glass formed by volcanic
activity was probably known long before that time.
In the United States, sand was used to produce glass as early as 1607
with the founding of the short-lived Jamestown colony in Virginia. The
first sustained glass-making venture was formed in 1739 in
Wistarburgh, New Jersey, by Caspar Wistar. The production of sand for
construction purposes grew significantly with the push for paved roads
during World War I and through the 1920s. The housing boom of the
late 1940s and early 1950s, coupled with the increased use of concrete
for building construction, provided another boost in production.
Raw Materials
Quartz sands, which are high in silica content, are used to make glass.
When quartz sands are crushed they produce particles with sharp,
angular edges that are sometimes used to make sandpaper for
smoothing wood. Some quartz sand is found in the form of sandstone.
Sandstone is a sedimentary, rock-like material formed under pressure
and composed of sand particles held together by a cementing material
such as calcium carbonate. A few sandstones are composed of almost
pure quartz particles and are the source of the silicon used to make
semiconductor silicon chips for microprocessors.
Molding sands, or foundry sands, are used for metal casting. They are
composed of about 80%-92% silica, up to 15% alumina, and2% iron
oxide. The alumina content gives the molding sand the proper binding
properties required to hold the shape of the mold cavity.
Sand that is scooped up from the bank of a river and is not washed or
sorted in any way is known as bank-run sand. It is used in general
construction and landscaping.
The definition of the size of sand particles varies, but in general sand
contains particles measuring about 0.0025-0.08 in (0.063-2.0 mm) in
diameter. Particles smaller than this are classified as silt. Larger
particles are either granules or gravel, depending on their size. In the
construction business, all aggregate materials with particles smaller
than 0.25 in (6.4 mm) are classified as fine aggregates. This includes
sand. Materials with particles from 0.25 in (6.4 mm) up to about 6.0 in
(15.2 cm) are classified as coarse aggregates.
The Manufacturing
Process
The following steps are commonly used to process sand and gravel for
construction purposes.
Natural decomposition
Extraction
Sorting
Washing
Crushing
• Some sand is crushed to produce a specific size or shape that is
not available naturally. The crusher may be a rotating cone type
in which the sand falls between an upper rotating cone and a
lower fixed cone that are separated by a very small distance. Any
particles larger than this separation distance are crushed
between the heavy metal cones, and the resulting particles fall
out the bottom.
Quality Control
The Future
The production of sand and gravel in many areas has come under
increasingly stringent restrictions. The United States Army Corps of
Engineers, operating under the Federal Clean Water Act, has required
permits for sand extraction from rivers, streams, and other waterways.
The cost of the special studies required to obtain these permits is often
too expensive to allow smaller companies to continue operation. In
other cases, residential development in the vicinity of existing
aggregate processing plants has led to restrictions regarding noise,
dust, and truck traffic. The overall result of these restrictions in certain
areas is that sand and gravel used for construction will have to be
transported from outside the area at a significantly increased cost in
the future. Unconsolidated granular material consisting of mineral,
rock, or biological fragments between 63 micrometers and 2 mm in
diameter. Finer material is referred to as silt and clay; coarser material
is known as gravel. Sand is usually produced primarily by the chemical
or mechanical breakdown of older source rocks, but may also be
formed by the direct chemical precipitation of mineral grains or by
biological processes. Accumulations of sand result from hydrodynamic
sorting of sediment during transport and deposition. See also Clay
minerals; Depositional systems and environments; Gravel; Mineral;
Rock; Sedimentary rocks.
ISO 14688 grades sands as fine, medium and coarse with ranges 0.063
mm to 0.2 mm to 0.63 mm to 2.0 mm. In USA, sand is commonly
divided into five sub-categories based on size: very fine sand (1/16 -
1/8 mm diameter), fine sand (1/8 mm - 1/4 mm), medium sand (1/4
mm - 1/2 mm), coarse sand (1/2 mm - 1 mm), and very coarse sand (1
mm - 2 mm). These sizes are based on the Φ sediment size scale,
where size in Φ = -log base 2 of size in mm. On this scale, for sand the
value of Φ varies from -1 to +4, with the divisions bThe most common
constituent of sand, in inland continental settings and non-tropical
coastal settings, is silica (silicon dioxide, or SiO2), usually in the form of
quartz, which, because of its chemical inertness and considerable
hardness, is resistant to weathering.
Minerals Defined
At one time, the term organic, even within the realm of chemistry,
referred to all living or formerly living things, their parts, and
substances that come from them. Today, however, chemists use the
word to describe any compound that contains carbon and hydrogen,
thus excluding carbonates (which are a type of mineral) and oxides
such as carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide.
Nonvarying Composition
Another way of putting this is to say that all minerals must have a
definite chemical formula, which is not possible with a mixture such as
dirt or glass. The Minerals essay, which the reader is encouraged to
consult for further information, makes reference to certain alloys, or
mixtures of metals, that are classified as minerals. These alloys,
however, are exceptional and fit certain specific characteristics of
interest to mineralogists. The vast majority of the more than 3,700
known varieties of mineral constitute either a single element or a
single compound.
Crystalline Structure
The fact that a mineral must have a crystalline structure implies that it
must be a solid, since all crystalline substances are solids. A solid, of
course, is a type of matter whose particles, in contrast to those of a
gas or liquid, maintain an orderly and definite arrangement and resist
attempts at compression. Thus, petroleum cannot be a mineral, nor is
"mineral spirits," a liquid paint thinner made from petroleum (and
further disqualified by the fact that it is artificial in origin).
Crystalline solids are those in which the constituent parts are arranged
in a simple, definite geometric pattern that is repeated in all directions.
These solids are contrasted with amorphous solids, such as clay. Metals
are crystalline in structure; indeed, several metallic elements that
appear on Earth in pure form (for example, gold, copper, and silver)
also are classified as minerals.
Identifying Minerals
Hardness
The scale rates minerals from 1 to 10, with 1 being equivalent to the
hardness of talc, a mineral so soft that it is used for making talcum
powder. A 2 on the Mohs scale is the hardness of gypsum, which is still
so soft that it can be scratched by a human fingernail. Above a 5 on
the scale, roughly equal to the hardness of a pocketknife or glass, are
potassium feldspar (6), quartz (7), topaz (8), corundum (9), and
diamond (10).
Rocks are all around us, especially in our building materials but also in
everything from jewelry to chalk. Then, of course, there are the rocks
that exist in nature, whether in our backyards or in some more
dramatic setting, such as a national park or along a rugged coastline.
Indeed, humans have a long history of involvement with rocks—a
history that goes far back to the aptly named Stone Age.
In areas of high pore water pressure sand can partially liquefy to form
quicksand. Quicksand, once dried, produces a considerable barrier to
escape for creatures caught within, who often die from exposure as a
result.