It feels like soft powder because it's crystal quartz. A study of Siesta Key beach sand by Harvard University's geology department found that the sand was 99 percent pure quartz grains. Over millenniums, sand grains were carried by rivers from the southern Appalachian Mountains into the Gulf and down Florida's coast. Those very fine grains have no coral or shell fragments, so it's like stepping on flour.

Nobody knows how many eons have passed since Siesta Key sand first appeared from fragmented rock. But scientists know Siesta Key beach sand is quite old, not only because of its very fine grains, but also because other components of the original molten rock like feldspar and mica and other minerals have almost completely disappeared, leaving only the quartz. Quartz is graded at 7 on a hardness scale of 10. Diamonds are rated 10 on this scale.

Geologists say the fine sand was blown about by the wind through one or more Eolian cycles. These cycles tend to knock the sharp corners off the quartz crystals and help bring about softness of our sand. Sand shifts up and down our coastline because of wind, storms and ocean currents. If sand is eroding in one place, it's building up somewhere else. That's the nature of a barrier island like Florida's Siesta Key.

Our sand feels soft and cool on your bare feet, even in the strongest Florida sun, and that means great beach walking. Sculptors love it too, because it packs down firm and smooth, which makes for awesome sand sculptures at contests like the Siesta Key Crystal Classic Master Sand Sculpting Competition in November and the Annual Amateur Siesta Key Sand Sculpture Contest in May.

Siesta Key's beach has been ranked Number One in America for cleanliness, water quality and safety by one of the world's top experts, Dr. Stephen Leatherman (aka Dr. Beach) of the National Healthy Beaches Campaign. It also qualifies as a Blue Wave Beach by the Clean Beaches Coalition. The Travel Channel ranks Siesta beach as one of Florida's and America's Top Ten Beaches.

So now you know why Siesta Key sand is ranked tops in the world. Plan your next Siesta Key vacation, Visit Siesta beach in Florida and see for yourself why beachgoers of all ages love our sand!

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