sand - oolitic sand from Great Salt Lake - set of 5 polystyrene 16 ml tubes

Each grain of oolitic sand has a nucleus, in this case a brine shrimp fecal pellet, a quartz or carbonate fragment or some other tiny debris The nucleus is surrounded by a shell of concentric layers of calcium carbonate that precipitated around the nucleus. The oolites form in warm, supersaturated and shallow wave-agitated water, rolling along the lake bottom and gradually accumulating layers. The oolites in this sand are roughly 0.1 to 0.3 mm in diameter. They are easy to see under 10x magnification. In the enlargement of this sand (photo 3), the graduations on the scale bar at upper left are 0.1 mm. Oolitic sand exposed at the edge of the lake is blown by the wind to form small dunes along the west side of Stansbury Island. The area is accessible by a causeway that connects the island to I-80. 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.