Black Beach White Beach: A Tale Of Two BeachesHD

During hot calm seasons, a crust may form on the surface of ocean beaches as the heat of the sun evaporates the water leaving the salt which crystallises around the sand particles. This crust forms an additional protective layer that resists wind erosion unless disturbed by animals or dissolved by the advancing tide. Cusps and horns form where incoming waves divide, depositing sand as horns and scouring out sand to form cusps. This forms the uneven face on some sand shorelines. White sand beaches look white because the quartz or eroded limestone in the sand reflects or scatters sunlight without absorbing other colors.

Black Beach White Beach: A tale of two beachesHD

Ocean beaches are habitats with organisms adapted to salt spray, tidal overwash, and shifting sands. Some of these organisms are found only on beaches. Examples of these beach organisms in the southeast US include plants like sea oats, sea rocket, beach elder, beach morning glory (Ipomoea pes-caprae), and beach peanut, and animals such as mole crabs (Hippoidea), coquina clams (Donax), ghost crabs, and white beach tiger beetles.[4]

The white crescent and shallow turquoise waters of Spiaggia dei Conigli on Sicily's Lampedusa island are a sharp contrast to the black sand, deep blue water and striking geometric basalt column formations of Reynisfjara Beach, which appeared in "Game of Thrones."

The Black Sand Beach Ireland is known for having black sand, against glittering water, especially at the time of sunset. The beach has lots of tourists of all nations. But by evening, the crowd is very less, and it is also a famous place for shooting wedding pictures. You could climb on the impressive black stack columns but at your own risk.

If you pick up a handful of sand, you will usually see a multitude of colors. Even sand that appears white can have both green, dark, pink, and orange grains amongst it. Black sand will most likely have a high concentration of black grains from either volcanic minerals or heavy minerals such as garnet, magnetite, and epidote. Black sand beaches are particularly common in areas near volcanoes such as Hawaii, Iceland, and the Canary Islands.

Black sand beaches are not as common as those with white or light brown sand. You will not get the stunning turquoise and clear blue water from these beaches, and conditions for activities such as snorkeling and diving will be less optimum because of lower visibility. Instead, however, you often get a more rugged and dramatic setting with contrasting white foamy water on beautiful dark sand.

The images in this collage of black sand beaches have been provided by beachmeter.com and the following contributors (in no particular order): Naveen Raj Dhanapal (cover photo), Artem Bali, Alice Karolina Smith, Florian Zeh, Jeremy Bishop, Ian Stauffer, and Adrien Olichon provided by Unsplash, and Nikitabuida provided by Freepik. 041b061a72