Just seen Mr Roo's Aussie Chevy in the Desert. Looking good.

Just a thought to add even more dilema to desert dios.
The colour variations of sand are huge. It can be almost grey, brown, coffee, light tan or even tangerine...really reddish orange. So next time you think sand.....
I will try and find some ref pics of the stuff we get out here to illustrate the diferences.

Cheers
Peter
Only trying to help...

Peter

Do you have any idea what could cause the color differences ? Reason why I ask is I have a desert dio thats in the research phase. Is this somthing to do with weather, or location ? Is there a color that is more common than others ? Sorry to hit you with so many questions, but sand color is one of the few esearch questions I've not been able to find an answer to.

Thanks much,
Wolfsix

You almost answered the question yourself. The color variation depends from which material the sands come from. If it's from granite rocks the sand will be grey, if it's from marble it will be more white like. Just look at pictures of beaches in the world, in my country the sands are beige/yellow like. In France the are rocky, and in Jamaica it's almost white. The color also depends on the weather, like rain (darker), clouds, wind just name it.

AP Bullet is spot on.
Also I think in North Africa and Arabia, there was a lot of volcanic activity eons ago which would affect the colour.
And in the Gulf region, large areas of what is now land, were under the sea so that might account for the muddy/clay yellows. Maybe the reds and oranges have something to do with iron oxides...not sure.
Fascinating stuff for geologists.
Cheers
Peter

Thanks guys you both were a big help. One of the problems with researching is more often than not the pictures are in black and white which leaves out a vital aspect of detail. Thanks again

Wolfsix

Being in Greece and having visited all islands here (and they are a lot) and in other parts of the world i have to say that it is amazing how many variations can be of sand colours and grain size even if the same island in next sided beaches. Here in Greece most beaches have fine grain almost golden coloured san, and in some cases its a lil whitenedand thiner like dust. There are some island in South kyklades region that there is darker sand and in special beaches almost black (and they are related to close volcanic sites). I ve also seen grey to black sand in some beaches around England, and i have seen totally white sand in Bahli and Indonesia. So there is much sand to sand guys !!!!!!!!!

Over the years in my travel with dear old US Sam, I to have seen many diffrerent colors. In Hawaii, I've seen colors from tannish grey, blod red, pinks and even jet black. In the Majavie Desert (Calif), I've seen green sand (Copper content). GO a little east to the Painted Desert you can see almost any color ranging from whites, yellows, reds, brown, and even grey.

Yup, depends on the local soil makeup. I spent some time in the Bahamas. The sand is near white because it is primarily made up of coral. More granular than powdery. In Florida, I found it to be a very light beige and very fine. In Virginia Beach, the color is similar, but not quite as fine.