colours in nature – the many colours of desert sands
Karen Haller
In the second of my colour in nature series, I look at why desert sands can vary so much in colour; from white, yellow, red to black.
The colour of the desert sand comes in many colours and it will depend on the colour of the rock it weathered from.
White sand – is finely grounded up quartz.
Yellow sand – shows it is composed of feldspar and quartz.
Red sand – shows it is rich in iron.
Black sand – is from volcanic rocks rich in iron and titanium.
A 275-square-mile desert of soft white sands in New Mexico.
The yellow sands of the Gobi desert (straddles China & Mongolia).
The red sand dunes of the Simpson Desert in the Australian outback.
The back sandy arctic desert known as the Sandar in Iceland.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you may also like to read the first article in this colour in nature series – the changing colours of sunset.
source information: Hub pages
Image credits: wayfaring.info, dailytravelphotos.com, outbacknt.com.au, twenty-somethingtravel.com
So very interesting and wonderfully sourced photography, thank you Karen x
You’re welcome. The colours of the different sands is really quite striking.
Amazing pictures!
The variety of sand colours is not something that I’d ever really thought about.
isn’t nature just amazing!
can you tell me what the red sands of Australian deserts invoke?
The colour of the sand from Australia’s deserts is from the rock it weathered from which is why it’s red. Looking at red as a colour it some of the feeling it invokes are warmth, fire, heat which are feelings you’d no doubt experience when in the red centre.
cool the white sand looks like snow but its the opposite its in a hot dry desert thats cool and my favorite is red sand
Hi there,
It’s amazing how many different coloured sand there is and the feeling they give. I think red sand is my favourite too.
Karen 🙂