sand - Franciscan Complex - chocolate brown beach sand derived from the Franciscan Complex - set of 5 tubes

This brown-appearing sand is amazingly colorful when magnified, illustrating the  varied sources of this sand in the rocks of the Late Mesozoic Franciscan Complex. This is a chaotic assemblage of rocks that were scraped off the Farallon Plate as it subducted under the North American Plate. The Franciscan has widespread distribution in the Coast Ranges of California.

The entire sand portion of the short 200-meter-long Rockaway Beach, just south of Pacifica, California, is composed of this chocolate brown sand. Many beaches where the sand source is the metamorphic rocks of the Franciscan assemblage have relatively dark sand, often grayish.

Set of five tubes, 16 ml each, optically clear polystyrene with screw caps. The plastic tubes are practical in a classroom and are somewhat student resistant, though a cap can be unscrewed.

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