Sand
![Sand dunes in the Idehan Ubari, Libya.](/Images/godic/202502/05/Libya_4608_Idehan_Ubari_Dunes_Luca_Galuzzi_20074524.jpg")
![Close-up (1×1 cm) of sand from the Gobi Desert, Mongolia.](/Images/godic/202502/05/Sand_from_Gobi_Desert4524.jpg")
![Heavy minerals (dark) in a quartz beach sand (Chennai, India).](/Images/godic/202502/05/HeavyMineralsBeachSand4524.jpg")
![Sand from Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah. These are grains of quartz with a hematite coating providing the orange color.](/Images/godic/202502/05/CoralPinkSandDunesSand4525.JPG")
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles. It is defined by size, being finer than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of soil or soil type; i.e. a soil containing more than 85% sand-sized particles (by mass).