Garie Beach

Texas beach sands?

why is sand on Texas beaches from north padre island going north are silty while the beach sand is more coarse at south padre island

Public Comments

1. I dont know But i agree with the whole coarse sand in south padre island
2. I have never had the opportunity to visit any of the beaches down there near the Corpus Christi region; however, I practically grew up on the beaches of Surfside (near Freeport) and Galveston's West Bay; west of San Louis Pass (Brazoria County). It is just my guess that over the course of history there, the South Padre Island was submerged under the sea water for a longer period of time. Perhaps, some day . . . Several Decades-or-even-Centuries from now, the overall texture of the sand on the two beaches will "be the same" . . . Or what future generations may ascertain as being "close to the same" . . . I suspect.
3. The sands of the beaches from N Padre Island going north are from the Mississippi River effluents that have travelled from the mouth of the river located on the east side of the La. coast and travel westward. If you look at an aerial of the Gulf of Mexico you can see the flow of the effluent. The effluent of the river is also called is sediment load. The load consists of many different sized partilcles from very fine silts to the heavier sands. Louisiana beaches are all brown sand (silty) because of this. Padre island is also a barrier island and the currents wash sand from the north to the south sides of the island. You can learn more about Padre Island from the National Park Service web site below.