Lithic sand

There are mineral sands and biogenic sands. Mineral sands, as name says, are composed of minerals, but not exclusively. Sometimes they also contain significant amount of mineral aggregates which are called rocks. Such sands and sandstones are said to be lithic.

Lithic sands are immature. It means that the source rocks must be not very far and the weathering agents have not yet had time to break these rocks down to their components. Lithic sands are often interestingly versatile, containing many unusual minerals and rock fragments.

There are very many rock types and consequently almost an endless array of possibilities to categorize lithic sands into different types. Rock fragments that often occur in sand are amphibolite, sandstone, quartzite, chert, schist, phyllite, granite, and basalt. Most lithic sands are dark in color.