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Sand mining is a practice that is becoming an ecological problem as the demand for sand increases in industry and construction. Sand is a naturally occurring Granular material composed of finely divided rock and Mineral particles For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" In the fields of Architecture and Civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the Building or assembling of Infrastructure Sand is mined from beaches and inland dunes and dredged from ocean beds and river beds. Mining is the extraction of valuable Minerals or other geological materials from the earth usually (but not always from an Ore body In physical Geography, a dune is a Hill of Sand built by Aeolian processes. Dredging is an Excavation activity or operation usually carried out at least partly underwater in shallow seas or Fresh water areas with the purpose of "Riverine" redirects here For the use of that term in Maritime geography, see there It is often used in manufacturing as an abrasive, for example, and it is used to make concrete. An abrasive is a material often a Mineral, that is used to shape or finish a workpiece through rubbing which leads to part of the workpiece being worn away Concrete is a construction material composed of Cement (commonly Portland cement) as well as other cementitious materials such as Fly ash and Slag As communities grow, construction requires less wood and more concrete, leading to a demand for low-cost sand. Sand is also used to replace eroded coastline. [1]
A related process is the mining of mineral sands, such as mineral deposits, grain, wheat, diamond which contain industrial useful minerals, mainly gold and silver. These minerals typically occur combined with ordinary sand. The sand is dug up, the valuable minerals are separated in water by using their different density, and the remaining ordinary sand is re-deposited.
Sand mining is a direct and obvious cause of erosion, and also impacts the local wildlife. Erosion is the carrying away or displacement of solids ( Sediment, Soil, rock and other particles usually by the agents of currents such as wind Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants animals and other organisms [2] For example, sea turtles depend on sandy beaches for their nesting, and sand mining has led to the near extinction of ghariyals (a species of crocodiles) in India. Sea turtles ( Superfamily Chelonioidea) are Turtles found in all the world's oceans except the Arctic Ocean. The gharial ( Gavialis gangeticus) sometimes called the Indian gavial or gavial, is one of two surviving members of the family A crocodile is any Species belonging to the family Crocodylidae (sometimes classified instead as the Subfamily Crocodylinae) India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Disturbance of underwater and coastal sand causes turbidity in the water, which is harmful for such organisms as corals that need sunlight. Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by individual particles ( suspended solids) that are generally invisible to the Naked eye Corals are Marine organisms from the class Anthozoa and exist as small Sea anemone –like Polyps typically in colonies of many It also destroys fisheries, causing problems for people who rely on fishing for their livelihoods. For the fishing industry and the practice of fishing see Fishing.
Removal of physical coastal barriers such as dunes leads to flooding of beachside communities, and the destruction of picturesque beaches causes tourism to dissipate. Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel Sand mining is regulated by law in many places, but is still often done illegally. [3]
Sand mining by country
Australia
New South Wales
In the 1930s mining operations began on the Kurnell Peninsula (Captain Cooks landing place in Australia) to supply the expanding Sydney building market. The Cronulla sand dunes are located on the Kurnell Peninsula in the local government area of Sutherland Shire, Sydney Australia. Kurnell is a Suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Captain James Cook FRS RN ( – 14 February 1779) was an English Explorer, Navigator and For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. It continued until 1990 with an estimate of over 70 million tonnes of sand having been removed. The sand has been valued for many decades by the building industry, mainly because of its high crushed shell content and lack of organic matter, it has provided a cheap source of sand for most of Sydney since sand mining operations began. The site has now been reduced to a few remnant dunes and deep water-filled pits which are now being filled with demolition waste from Sydney's building sites. Removal of the sand has significantly weakened the peninsula's capacity to resist storms. Ocean waves pounding against the reduced Kurnell dune system have threatened to break through to Botany Bay, especially during the storms of May and June back in 1974 and of August 1998. Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. [4]
Queensland
A large and long running sandmine in Queensland, Australia (on North Stradbroke Island) provides a case study in the (disastrous) environmental consequences on a fragile sandy-soil based ecosystem, justified by the provision of low wage casual labor on an island with few other work options. Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern corner of the mainland continent For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. North Stradbroke Island is an Australian island in the state of Queensland, 30 km southeast of the capital Brisbane. [5]
Sand mining has negitive effects such as all the sand might run out and the beaches might probably disappear. A positive effct is construction of buildings such as hospitals and clinics ect.
References
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