This south coast beach just south of Brighton near Dunedin / New Zealand gets golden sand sprinkled in patches, randomly over the mostly white sand. It’s a very pretty effect. When we visited on Christmas morning there was way less gold sand than when we’d visited a few weeks before but I found a nice gold streak at the base of the sand dunes.
Click on any photo to enlarge.
fyi the plants are a mix of yellow-flowered lupins and marram grass
—neither are native
Text and photos by Liz; Exploring Colour (2020)
Good title, and the golden sand is quite striking. It would be fun to hear a geologist’s ideas on its origin.
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Thanks for your mention of the title Gary! I agree it’d be fun to know more, I’ll remain alert to any learning opportunity that may arise 🙂
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I did a quick search but couldn’t find an explanation for the golden sands. Does wind expose them? Are they a result of something leaching from the dunes? Something in the ocean water there? In any event, it’s a pleasing effect. It must be lovely as they shift and change.
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Hi Linda. I don’t know where it comes from. My guess is that the golden sand comes in from certain currents or during storms and I wouldn’t have a clue where the actual source is. Puzzling!
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That makes sense. We have certain seaweeds that wash in on seasonal currents, though they’re not as attractive as your sands.
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When I did a little searching yesterday I didn’t find anything, either, but today I came across an article that explains the color of the sand in Golden Bay:
https://niwa.co.nz/news-and-publications/media-centre/summer-series/summer-series-8-the-science-of-sand
Whether that’s also the explanation for the sand near Brighton, I don’t know.
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Thanks for looking Steve! great article.
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I really like the look and feel of the dunes in your photos, Liz. My parents retired to a small house in Maine, only a few minutes walk from the ocean and I have fond memories of walking down narrow wooded boardwalks through the dunes to the water.
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