Why do we get sand on beaches but not soil?
In: Geology
Beach sand is mainly sediment from eroded rocks (both inland and in the water) in addition sealife such as corral and shellfish. It washes up on the shore, and thus you have sand (instead of soil).
You can definitely get soil on a “beach” Soil is just sand or clay with organic matter in it. If the area next to your ocean, lake, river etc is stable enough to support plant life, you get soil. We just wouldn’t call it a beach. Sandy beaches are unstable areas. Waves and currents deposit some sand and take away some sand so that the size and position of the beach changes constantly
Hey! Complementing what u/Mr-Macphisto said, actually beaches are a direct product of its surroundings in the continent side. If there are very resistent rocks (normally quartz-rich rocks), the beach will be formed by “normal” sand (tiny grains of quartz). But, in some cases there so much organic matter available that some type of soil can be formed, that’s the case of mangroves (that’s not called a beach, but it’s related to).
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