Why are beaches sandy?

Answer 1

Fabulous Question! Actually it is sandy lots of places but plants grow over it, then dirt, then more plants. Near the shore the dynamics of the water edge either wash away the land or deposit more sand. Sometimes people add more sand by the giant truckloads. Sand is made by several mechanical processes, often by parrotfish who eat coral and excrete sand as waste. Glaciers grind rocks into sand. When sand builds up in layers it eventually becomed sandstone.

Answer 2

Moving water can carry material in solution, but this can be washed away as easily as it might fall out of solution. Waves and ocean currents have trouble picking up silts and clays, and the also have trouble moving heavier items--pebbles, stones, or big rocks. They can move them a little bit, but sands are just the right size to be moved and carried easily by both wind and water. This is why wind creates sand dunes, and water movement creates sandy beaches.