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36-425: At the beginning of the 17th century there was only a small flat area called Terra Nova or San Francesco , then by order of the governor of Alcamo, Don Pietro Balsamo, they began the works for the opening of Corso 6 Aprile . The part underlying the square was used for the extraction of Calcarenite , and there were many caves that were once employed as dwellings, and later, thanks to their favourable temperature, for

72-428: A travertine parapet , from which we can admire the beautiful landscape of Gulf of Castellammare and placed some benches, while on the west side (after Palazzo Mistretta-Galati) they placed the bust of the famous poet Sebastiano Bagolino realized by Giuseppe Bambina, a sculptor from Alcamo; another bust, representing the scientist Girolamo Caruso , was located at the entrance of the public garden. Finally, in 2012,

108-434: A documentary called " Sand Wars " about the impact of the lack of construction sand. It shows the ecological and economic effects of both legal and illegal trade in construction sand. To retrieve the sand, the method of hydraulic dredging is used. This works by pumping the top few meters of sand out of the water and filling it into a boat, which is then transported back to land for processing. All marine life mixed in with

144-610: A high olivine content. Many sands, especially those found extensively in Southern Europe , have iron impurities within the quartz crystals of the sand, giving a deep yellow color. Sand deposits in some areas contain garnets and other resistant minerals, including some small gemstones . Rocks erode or weather over a long period of time, mainly by water and wind, and their sediments are transported downstream. These sediments continue to break apart into smaller pieces until they become fine grains of sand. The type of rock

180-489: A result. People sometimes dig holes in the sand at beaches for recreational purposes, but if too deep they can result in serious injury or death in the event of a collapse. Manufactured sand (M sand) is sand made from rock by artificial processes, usually for construction purposes in cement or concrete. It differs from river sand by being more angular, and has somewhat different properties. In Dubai , United Arab Emirates , sand needed to construct infrastructure and create

216-423: A rounded pond. The next year there was a flood which provoked a landslide, but only in 1946 they consolidated the square, in order to protect the front houses too. During this phase they made the drainage and reinforcement works, realized the staircase leading to Parco suburbano San Francesco , and settled the square by planting some trees and make the flooring, together with minor works. In 1950 they also added

252-485: A sculptor from Alcamo, in 1961 and representing "The poet Cielo d'Alcamo at the court of Frederick II " and "Active life of Alcamo", portrayed through a rural scene with symbolic figures. The work was commissioned to the sculptor by the senator Ludovico Corrao , the Lord Mayor of that time. On the left of Porta Palermo there is the garden entitled to Bagolino, with some imposing trees; opposite to it there

288-483: A significant dredging industry, raising environmental concerns over fish depletion, landslides, and flooding. Countries such as China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Cambodia ban sand exports, citing these issues as a major factor. It is estimated that the annual consumption of sand and gravel is 40 billion tons and sand is a US$ 70 billion global industry. With increasing use, more is expected to come from recycling and alternatives to sand. The global demand for sand in 2017

324-403: A volume of approximately 0.00012 cubic millimetres, to 2 mm, a volume of approximately 4.2 cubic millimetres, the difference in volumes being 34,688 measures difference. Any particle falling within this range of sizes is termed a sand grain . Sand grains are between gravel (with particles ranging from 2 mm up to 64 mm by the latter system, and from 4.75 mm up to 75 mm in

360-466: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller 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 percent sand-sized particles by mass. The composition of sand varies, depending on

396-508: Is called grus in geology or sharp sand in the building trade where it is preferred for concrete, and in gardening where it is used as a soil amendment to loosen clay soils. Sand that is transported long distances by water or wind will be rounded, with characteristic abrasion patterns on the grain surface. Desert sand is typically rounded. People who collect sand as a hobby are known as arenophiles . Organisms that thrive in sandy environments are psammophiles. Only some sands are suitable for

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432-572: Is in high demand. Desert sand, although plentiful, is not suitable for concrete. Fifty billion tons of beach sand and fossil sand are used each year for construction. The exact definition of sand varies. The scientific Unified Soil Classification System used in engineering and geology corresponds to US Standard Sieves, and defines sand as particles with a diameter of between 0.074 and 4.75 millimeters. By another definition, in terms of particle size as used by geologists , sand particles range in diameter from 0.0625 mm (or 1 ⁄ 16  mm)

468-597: Is the carbonate equivalent of a sandstone . The term calcarenite was originally proposed in 1903 by Grabau as a part of his calcilutite , calcarenite and calcirudite carbonate classification system based upon the size of the detrital grains composing a limestone. Calcarenites can accumulate in a wide variety of marine and non-marine environments. They can consist of grains of carbonate that have accumulated either as coastal sand dunes ( eolianites ), beaches , offshore bars and shoals, turbidites , or other depositional settings. This article related to petrology

504-483: Is the entrance of Parco suburbano San Francesco, rich with different plants typical of the Mediterranean flora. From Piazza Bagolino, also called Belvedere, you can enjoy one of the most picturesque landscapes of the sweet hills of Alcamo countryside, with the geometrical lines drawn by rows of vineyards, olive trees and characteristic baglios in the distance. The place is not properly enlighted, but actually

540-474: Is the most common mineral resistant to weathering . The composition of mineral sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions. The bright white sands found in tropical and subtropical coastal settings are eroded limestone and may contain coral and shell fragments in addition to other organic or organically derived fragmental material, suggesting that sand formation depends on living organisms, too. The gypsum sand dunes of

576-500: Is the primary form of sand apparent in areas where reefs have dominated the ecosystem for millions of years, as in the Caribbean . Somewhat more rarely, sand may be composed of calcium sulfate , such as gypsum and selenite , as is found in places such as White Sands National Park and Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge in the U.S. Sand is a non-renewable resource over human timescales, and sand suitable for making concrete

612-514: The Krumbein phi scale , where size is Φ = -log 2 D; D being the particle size in mm. On this scale, for sand the value of Φ varies from −1 to +4, with the divisions between sub-categories at whole numbers. The most common constituent of sand, in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal settings, is silica (silicon dioxide, or SiO 2 ), usually in the form of quartz , which, because of its chemical inertness and considerable hardness,

648-788: The Mediterranean macchia . As soon as you enter it, on the right you can see the tree in memory of the two carabinieris killed on 27 January 1976 in the Alcamo Marina Massacre : Carmine Apuzzo and Salvatore Falcetta. Calcarenite Calcarenite is a type of limestone that is composed predominantly, more than 50 percent, of detrital (transported) sand -size (0.0625 to 2 mm in diameter), carbonate grains. The grains consist of sand-size grains of either corals , shells , ooids , intraclasts , pellets , fragments of older limestones and dolomites , other carbonate grains, or some combination of these. Calcarenite

684-594: The United States Department of Agriculture was 0.05 mm. A 1953 engineering standard published by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials set the minimum sand size at 0.074 mm. Sand feels gritty when rubbed between the fingers. Silt , by comparison, feels like flour . ISO 14688 grades sands as fine, medium, and coarse with ranges 0.063 mm to 0.2 mm to 0.63 mm to 2.0 mm. In

720-687: The White Sands National Park in New Mexico are famous for their bright, white color. Arkose is a sand or sandstone with considerable feldspar content, derived from weathering and erosion of a (usually nearby) granitic rock outcrop. Some sands contain magnetite , chlorite , glauconite , or gypsum . Sands rich in magnetite are dark to black in color, as are sands derived from volcanic basalts and obsidian . Chlorite - glauconite bearing sands are typically green in color, as are sands derived from basaltic lava with

756-487: The Sahara is sand dunes, while 70% is bare rock. The wind is responsible for creating these different environments and shaping the sand to be round and smooth. These properties make desert sand unusable for construction. Beach sand is also formed by erosion. Over thousands of years, rocks are eroded near the shoreline from the constant motion of waves and the sediments build up. Weathering and river deposition also accelerate

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792-473: The United States, sand is commonly divided into five sub-categories based on size: very fine sand ( 1 ⁄ 16 – 1 ⁄ 8  mm diameter), fine sand ( 1 ⁄ 8  mm – 1 ⁄ 4  mm), medium sand ( 1 ⁄ 4  mm – 1 ⁄ 2  mm), coarse sand ( 1 ⁄ 2  mm – 1 mm), and very coarse sand (1 mm – 2 mm). These sizes are based on

828-441: The construction industry, for example for making concrete . Grains of desert sand are rounded by being blown in the wind, and for this reason do not produce solid concrete, unlike the rough sand from the sea. Because of the growth of population and of cities and the consequent construction activity there is a huge demand for these special kinds of sand, and natural sources are running low. In 2012 French director Denis Delestrac made

864-438: The extracted sand is killed and the ecosystem can continue to suffer for years after the mining is complete. Not only does this affect marine life, but also the local fishing industries because of the loss of life, and communities living close to the water's edge. When sand is taken out of the water it increases the risk of landslides, which can lead to loss of agricultural land and/or damage to dwellings. Sand's many uses require

900-585: The former) and silt (particles smaller than 0.0625 mm down to 0.004 mm). The size specification between sand and gravel has remained constant for more than a century, but particle diameters as small as 0.02 mm were considered sand under the Albert Atterberg standard in use during the early 20th century. The grains of sand in Archimedes ' The Sand Reckoner written around 240 BCE, were 0.02 mm in diameter. A 1938 specification of

936-452: The local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non- tropical coastal settings is silica (silicon dioxide, or SiO 2 ), usually in the form of quartz . Calcium carbonate is the second most common type of sand. One such example of this is aragonite , which has been created over the past 500   million years by various forms of life, such as coral and shellfish . It

972-437: The process of creating a beach, along with marine animals interacting with rocks, such as eating the algae off of them. Once there is a sufficient amount of sand, the beach acts as a barrier to keep the land from eroding any further. This sand is ideal for construction as it is angular and of various sizes. Marine sand (or ocean sand) comes from sediments transported into the ocean and the erosion of ocean rocks. The thickness of

1008-463: The processing of calfskins . As people used the area for a dumping ground, it was necessary a work of consolidation and settling in order to avoid landslides: it was made according to the project of the engineer Fra Cipolla from Nicosia in the early 19th century. In 1930 they realized the walls of the bastion and restored and fenced the small garden, called Villa Margherita of Savoy at that time: they also planted several trees and flowers, placing

1044-461: The rate the sand can replenish, making it a non-renewable resource. Sand dunes are a consequence of dry conditions or wind deposition. The Sahara Desert is very dry because of its geographic location and proximity to the equator . It is known for its vast sand dunes, which exist mainly due to a lack of vegetation and water. Over time, wind blows away fine particles, such as clay and dead organic matter, leaving only sand and larger rocks. Only 15% of

1080-460: The sand because they do not have as much time to dissolve away. The term for sand formed by weathering is "epiclastic." Sand from rivers are collected either from the river itself or its flood plain and accounts for the majority of the sand used in the construction industry. Because of this, many small rivers have been depleted, causing environmental concern and economic losses to adjacent land. The rate of sand mining in such areas greatly outweighs

1116-480: The sand layer varies, however it is common to have more sand closer to land; this type of sand is ideal for construction and is a very valuable commodity. Europe is the main miners of marine sand, which greatly hurts ecosystems and local fisheries. The study of individual grains can reveal much historical information as to the origin and kind of transport of the grain. Quartz sand that is recently weathered from granite or gneiss quartz crystals will be angular. It

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1152-411: The sediment originated from and the intensity of the environment give different compositions of sand. The most common rock to form sand is granite , where the feldspar minerals dissolve faster than the quartz , causing the rock to break apart into small pieces. In high energy environments rocks break apart much faster than in more calm settings. In granite rocks this results in more feldspar minerals in

1188-659: The square was restored again, in the present form, by the municipal administration led by the Lord Mayor Giacomo Scala. Piazza Bagolino is located on the east side of the town; there is the widest car park: you can leave your car here, either in the square or in the underground car-park that was realized in 2012. Together with Piazza Ciullo and Piazza della Repubblica, it is one of the largest squares in Alcamo leading into Corso 6 Aprile; here you can admire two magnificent bas-riliefs realized by Nicola Rubino ,

1224-528: The strong point is its belvedere: on 21 June, during the feast of Madonna of Miracles (the Patroness of Alcamo), it is the best placet o look at fireworks. From Piazza Bagolino you can enter Corso 6 Aprile and, in few minutes, reach the town centre on foot. This park is a public garden located below the bastion of Piazza Bagolino. It has an area of about 12,000 square metres; it is a wonderful garden with very different types of plants and tree, typical of

1260-493: The user to wear respiratory protection to avoid breathing the resulting fine silica dust . Safety data sheets for silica sand state that "excessive inhalation of crystalline silica is a serious health concern." In areas of high pore water pressure , sand and salt water can form quicksand , which is a colloid hydrogel that behaves like a liquid. Quicksand produces a considerable barrier to escape for creatures caught within, who often die from exposure (not from submersion) as

1296-635: Was 9.55 billion tons as part of a $ 99.5 billion industry. In April 2022, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published a report stating that 50 billion tons of sand and gravel were being used every year. The report made 10 recommendations, including a ban on beach extraction, to avert a crisis, and move toward a circular economy for the two resources. While sand is generally non-toxic, sand-using activities such as sandblasting require precautions. Bags of silica sand used for sandblasting now carry labels warning

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