Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 May 2009
Gypsum crystals containing 62 per cent by volume of sand are described from a late Raised Beach, where they were found by digging shallow coastal wells. An account is given of their crystallographic form and of the circumstances in which they have been produced. Gypsum has not only been deposited in the voids of the sand but has even moved the individual grains apart. A review is given of earlier records of sandy gypsum crystals, sometimes called “desert roses”, and comparison is made.