occursand

Occursand is a fictional mineral concept used in geoscience education to illustrate how loose sand can become a coherent sediment through diagenetic cementation. It is not an officially recognized mineral and has no standing in formal mineral nomenclature.

Etymology and concept. The term combines the ideas of occurrence and sand, signaling that the material is imagined to form under specific conditions in sand-rich environments. In teaching contexts, occursand helps describe the transition from unconsolidated grains to a cemented, rock-like texture without invoking real-world certainty.

Description and properties. In the fictional framework, occursand is depicted as a fine-grained, silica-rich material that can range from granular to microcrystalline. It is typically pale or colorless, with a dull to glassy luster. Its hardness is described variably, often placed around 5 to 7 on the Mohs scale to reflect a cemented sand rather than pure quartz.

Formation and occurrence. The imagined formation pathway involves silica-bearing fluids circulating through porous sand, precipitating cementing agents at grain contacts, and gradually binding grains. This diagenetic process can produce thin crusts or thicker patches that resemble consolidated sand deposits, commonly in arid coastal or fluvial settings within the fictional narrative.

Uses and significance. Occursand is employed as an educational tool to discuss sedimentology concepts such as cementation, porosity reduction, and diagenetic alteration. While not used in industry, the construct aids readers and students in visualizing how geological processes transform loose sediment into more coherent units.

See also. Diagenesis, cementation, silicification, sedimentology, sand.