Where does the sand on beaches end up?

Along the way, sand is washed ashore, temporarily resting on beaches, until it is re-suspended in the ocean by wave action or wind. The one-way journey down the coast ends when sand is blown inland forming sand dunes, or more commonly, when it flows into a submarine canyon.



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Most beaches contain quartz sand brought to the coast by rivers draining the Appalachian mountains. Many beaches also contain shells and shell fragments Florida's coastline spans over 1,260 miles. Only Alaska has more coastline. The coast has and shorelines.

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Fair-weather wind and wave activity will eventually carry the eroded sand back to the beach. Beach recovery takes months or years, though, because the lower energy waves don't carry as much sediment.

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Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island, Australia Whitehaven Beach is consistently ranked as the world's best beach, and with good reason: It's almost surreally beautiful. Besides its crystal clear waters, it's known for its white sand, consisting of 98% pure silica which gives it a bright white color.

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To protect themselves, ghost shrimp burrow deep into the sand, about four feet down. They use their legs to pull in ocean water so they can feast on plankton, then push or flick the water back up and out of the hole to keep their burrow clean—hence the surrounding “sprinkles.”

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