Mineralogy and morphology of sand: Key parameters in the durability for its use in artificial beach nourishment

M López; F Baeza-Brotons; I López; A J Tenza-Abril; L Aragonés

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.05.024

Mineralogy and morphology of sand: Key parameters in the durability for its use in artificial beach nourishment

Sci Total Environ. 2018 Oct 15:639:186-194. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.05.024. Epub 2018 May 26.

Authors

M López¹, F Baeza-Brotons¹, I López¹, A J Tenza-Abril¹, L Aragonés²

Affiliations

¹ Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Alicante, Carretera San Vicent del Raspeig s/n, 03690 Alicante, Spain.
² Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Alicante, Carretera San Vicent del Raspeig s/n, 03690 Alicante, Spain. Electronic address: laragones@ua.es.

PMID: 29787902
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.05.024

Abstract

Sand is the third most consumed material in the world, although it is a very scarce material. An exhaustive knowledge of sand and its behaviour against the waves is important for selecting the most suitable material to avoid shoreline erosion. To this end, a pattern of behaviour against accelerated wear test has been sought for 26 sand samples with different characteristics and origins (natural, dredged and quarried), with a focus on their mineralogy as well as a comparison of beach evolution carried out by other authors. Several techniques have been applied for characterization: granulometry, calcimetry, XRD and SEM. The results show that the different degrees of sand grain wear are not only due to their size and mineralogy, but also to the morphology of the particles.

Keywords: Accelerated wear particle test; Aggregate; Beach nourishment; Morphology; SEM; X-ray diffraction.