Have you wondered what is under the sand in Florida?
I mean what you will find when you dig the sand in Florida.
Florida has limestone beneath its sand or organic material.
The limestone was referred to as a part of the Biscayne aquifer.
The limestone is known as “Miami Limestone”.
There is an outcropping of rocks in several places while the depth to limestone measures in inches.
The Rock Outcrop-Biscayne-Chekika soil association is a good instance.
All the beaches in Florida are not the same.
There are different varieties of beaches in the Sunshine State.
The sand on a beach in
Florida can look dark
, white, or even orange, depending on the one you visited.
In this article, I will give you a guard to
Florida beach
sands.
I have never liked matching my feet on the sand, but the only best way to walk on a beach is walking barefoot.
The soft sand will give you a nice feeling, and it is very nice to remove your shoes to sink your toes into the powder-like clean sands on Florida beaches.
You will be rejuvenated by the feeling.
When I was growing up, we used to play on the beaches of
Anna Maria Island
.
The sand on these beaches was always brilliant and soft.
It surprised me to notice that there are other kinds of sand on other beaches of Florida I visited when I grew up.
The
Florida beach that has the whitest sand
has been in a contest over the years.
Although I have no problem with beaches that have all kinds of sand, white sand is the best.
I will talk to you about some of my most preferred beaches, and I will talk about the various kinds of sand on them which will make you feel good when you feel them between your toes.
What is Under the Sand in Florida?
Many Florida beach sand contains quartz crystals.
Quartz crystals are produced when continental land masses such as the Appalachian Mountains are weathered.
When these particles find their way into the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico from the American great rivers they are washed ashore by water currents and waves.
Shell fragments, coral limestone fossils, organic matter, and sparkling quartz crystals sometimes mix up to give the beach sand the color it wears.
By close observation, you will discover that the sand on the
beaches within the southeast Florida coast and the Keys contains more coral and mollusk shell fragments
, and fewer quartz crystals.
White Sand Beaches in Florida
You will get the whitest sand in America in the Northwest region of
Florida
.
The sand in this region is dazzling crystals.
They are almost pure quartz crystals, soft fluffy, and very nice to walk on.
I still remember the first day I set my feet on the white sand beach of St.
Andrew’s
State Park
.
St.
Andrew’s State Park is close to Panama City Beach.
It felt pure and very soft within my toes.
The purity was so appealing to me that I had to dig my feet into it, and scooped some in my hands to admire.
The sand was so white and nearly pure, and I could see only a few tiny flecks of dark minerals in it.
Other Florida
beaches that have dazzling white sands are Pensacola
Beach, Navarre Beach, Fort Walton Beach, and Destin Beaches.
If you move further south of Florida, towards the peninsular Gulf coast, you will start seeing white sand beaches from
Tampa Bay
to Marco Island.
You will see fine soft white quartz sand on the
beaches that are located around the Tampa
Bay area.
Some very popular among them are, Caladesi Island, Clearwater Beach, St.
Pete Beach
, Anna Maria Island, Longboat Key, Longboat Key, Lido Key, and Siesta Key.
Fort Myers Beach
The
beaches at the Central and southwest Gulf coast of Florida have sands that are almost as white as the sand on the beaches in northwest Florida
.
However, the sand on the Central and southwest Gulf coast is as soft as sugar or powder.
If you correctly step on the sand of some of the beaches near the dunes they squeak or chirp.
The sand has to be dry for you to have this experience.
Kids love it when the dry powdery sand squeaks and chirp loudly as they scuffle through them.
Even on the hottest days of summer, this white powdery
sand does not get hot
.
Gray and Black Sand Beaches in Florida
If you visit the beaches in Venice, you will see that some of them have black sand.
The sand is not completely black but it is close to that in some places.
The black and dark brown sand on the beaches of Florida came to be as a result of fossil fragments that are mixed with the white quartz sand.
Venice Beach has beautiful shades of white and gray sand.
Anytime I
visit Caspersen Beach
which is located on the southern side of the Venice fishing pier I enjoy taking a long walk on its sand.
One fossil I will always look out for on Venice
beaches is a shark’s tooth
.
You will see this fossil in different shapes and sizes.
They are usually dark brown or black.
Every time I visit any of these unusual beaches, I always find a good number of them.
Brown Sand Beaches
There are tiny fragments of a shell that mix with the quartz crystals on some beaches, changing the color of the sand to light brown or light gray.
Having been washed for years, they become smooth and polished.
Your feet will get a real workout when you walk long distances on beaches like this.
If you take a walk on the coastal edge, the wet sand will receive your feet into it, because of its softness.
You will see this shelly sand at the Southern
Siesta Key
.
The Southern Siesta Key is on the Gulf Coast of Florida, close to Turtle Beach.
You will see brown sand on many of the Atlantic coast beaches.
FAQs
How deep is the sand in Florida?
The sand in
Florida
is not deep the way you think.
Its depth is just between 3 to 4 feet.
What is below the sand is limestone.
What is the sand in Florida made of?
There are lots of quartz crystals on most beaches in Florida.
The quartz is a product of actions of natural forces on continental land masses such as Appalachian mountains.
The quartz is washed from the big rivers in America into the Atlantic and the Gulf of
Mexico
.
From there water currents and waves wash them up to the beaches.
Why is Florida all sand?
The sand and clay that were deposited on the limestone layer of Florida came from the Appalachian Mountains when they were eroded.
Most of the quartz sand you see in Florida today originated from the rocks on the Florida chain of mountains.