{{Short description|Marine sediment made of foraminifera remains}} thumb|right|Magnified star sand found in Okinawa [[File:Yurigahama.jpg|thumb|Yurigahama beach on Yoronjima is famous for its star sand<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Terry |first=James P. |date=2006 |title=Yoron Island in Southern Japan - Quaternary Geology and Solution Controls on Surface Land forms |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/144564925.pdf |journal=South Pacific Studies |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=111–123}}</ref>]] '''Star sand''' ({{Langx|ja|星砂|hoshizuna|star-sand}}),<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=秋山 |first=吉則 |date=1979 |title=漂砂の指標としての『星砂』の砕屑過程: 与論島北東部現成サンゴ礁を例として |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/chirikagaku/31/0/31_KJ00003718581/_article/-char/ja/ |journal=地理科学 |volume=31 |pages=33–40 |doi=10.20630/chirikagaku.31.0_33}}</ref> also known as '''living sand''',<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Lee |first=John J. |date=1995-04-01 |title=Living Sands: The symbiosis of protists and algae can provide good models for the study of host/symbiont interactions |url=https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-abstract/45/4/252/219834?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=BioScience |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=252–261 |doi=10.2307/1312418 |jstor=1312418 |issn=0006-3568|url-access=subscription }}</ref> is a rare sand-like substance made up of the star-shaped skeletal remains of marine foraminifera in the family ''Calcirinidae''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Langer |first1=Martin R. |last2=Hottinger |first2=Lukas |date=2000 |title=Biogeography of Selected "Larger" Foraminifera |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1486184 |journal=Micropaleontology |volume=46 |pages=105–126 |jstor=1486184 |issn=0026-2803}}</ref><ref name="Hobson" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hohenegger |first=Johann |title=Carbonate Beaches 2000 |date=2012-04-26 |chapter=Inferences on Sediment Production and Transport at Carbonate Beaches Using Larger Foraminifera |chapter-url=https://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/40640(305)9 |language=EN |pages=112–125 |doi=10.1061/40640(305)9|isbn=978-0-7844-0640-3 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=John J. |last2=Cervasco |first2=Megan H. |last3=Morales |first3=Jorge |last4=Billik |first4=Morgan |last5=Fine |first5=Maoz |last6=Levy |first6=Oren |date=July 2010 |title=Symbiosis drove cellular evolution: Symbiosis fueled evolution of lineages of Foraminifera (eukaryotic cells) into exceptionally complex giant protists |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13199-010-0056-4 |journal=Symbiosis |language=en |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=13–25 |doi=10.1007/s13199-010-0056-4 |bibcode=2010Symbi..51...13L |issn=0334-5114|url-access=subscription }}</ref> When the Calcirinids die, their skeletons are swept from their reef habitats and accumulate by the billions on shore.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Burki |first1=Fabien |last2=Keeling |first2=Patrick J. |date=February 2014 |title=Rhizaria |url=https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(13)01584-4 |journal=Current Biology |language=English |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=R103–R107 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2013.12.025 |pmid=24502779 |bibcode=2014CBio...24.R103B |issn=0960-9822 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241126225449/https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(13)01584-4 |archive-date=2024-11-26}}</ref> A Japanese myth holds that grains of star sand are the skeletons of descendants of the North Star and the Southern Cross, fallen to the waters of Okinawa and killed by a serpent sent by the god of the sea.<ref name="Hobson" /> Star sand is found on shores throughout the west and south Pacific, including in the Indonesian archipelago, the Okinawa Islands, and Raine Island.<ref name="Hobson" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Hohenegger |first=Johann |url=https://www.museum.kagoshima-u.ac.jp/publications/LARGE%20FORAMINIFERA.pdf |title=Large Foraminifera - Greenhouse constructions and gardeners in the oceanic microcosm |publisher=The Kagoshima University Museum |year=2011 |isbn=978-4-905464-00-6 |series=The Kagoshima University Museum Bulletin No.5 |location=Kagoshima}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Limpus |first1=Colin J |last2=Limpus |first2=Colin J. |last3=Miller |first3=Jeffrey D. |last4=Parmenter |first4=C. John |last5=Limpus |first5=Duncan J. |date=2003 |title=The green turtle, Chelonia mydas, population of Raine Island and the northern Great Barrier Reef: 1843-2001 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/249847 |journal=Memoirs of the Queensland Museum |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=349––440}}</ref> Development of star sand causes beaches to "grow" over time as a result of the forams' life cycle,<ref name="Hobson">{{cite web |last1=Hobson |first1=Melissa |title=This isn't a starfish—it's a rare sand found only in Japan |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/okinawa-japan-star-sand |website=National Geographic |access-date=5 January 2025}}</ref> with annual rates of calcium carbonate production as high as 1 kg/m<sup>2</sup> near coral reef margins in the Pacific.<ref name=":1" /> Because of this, laboratory production of star sand for beach renourishment has been developed in Japan.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bird |first1=Eric |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-319-09728-2 |title=Beach Renourishment |last2=Lewis |first2=Nick |date=2015 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-319-09727-5 |series=SpringerBriefs in Earth Sciences |location=Cham |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-09728-2|bibcode=2015bere.book.....B }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hosono |first1=Takashi |last2=Lopati |first2=Paeniu |last3=Makolo |first3=Filipo |last4=Kayanne |first4=Hajime |date=July 2014 |title=Mass culturing of living sands (Baculogypsina sphaerulata) to protect island coasts against sea-level rise |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seares.2014.03.007 |journal=Journal of Sea Research |volume=90 |pages=121–126 |doi=10.1016/j.seares.2014.03.007 |bibcode=2014JSR....90..121H |issn=1385-1101}}</ref> The Japanese government has cultured star sand at Okinotorishima to build the islet into a more stable atoll and thus to strengthen Japan's legal claim to the surrounding waters, which otherwise would belong to China.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baldacchino |first=Godfrey |title=Solution protocols to festering island disputes: "win-win" solutions for the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-4724-7518-3 |location=Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY |chapter=Worth nothing, yet worth everything: Why countries (may) go to war over small islands}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Root |first=Joshua L. |title=Castles in the Sand: Engineering Insular Formations to Gain Legal Rights over the Oceans |date=2016-01-01 |work=Chinese (Taiwan) Yearbook of International Law and Affairs, Volume 32 (2014) |pages=58–85 |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004316553_006 |access-date=2025-01-08 |publisher=Brill {{!}} Nijhoff |doi=10.1163/9789004316553_006 |isbn=978-90-04-31654-6|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Up to three quarters of the sediment mass of Tuvalu is star sand.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Starry-eyed |url=https://www.economist.com/asia/2009/10/15/starry-eyed |access-date=2025-01-08 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> Bottles of star sand are sold as souvenirs.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /> Arenophiles acquire samples of star sand through trade with other enthusiasts.<ref>{{Citation |last=Coates |first=Peter |title=An Eclectic A–Z of Sand: Removing, Treasuring, Recreating and Protecting |date=2020 |work=Sandscapes: Writing the British Seaside |pages=29–50 |editor-last=Carruthers |editor-first=Jo |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-44780-9_3 |access-date=2025-01-07 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-44780-9_3 |isbn=978-3-030-44780-9 |editor2-last=Dakkak |editor2-first=Nour|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Collection of large quantities of star sand for commercial purposes from the Great Barrier Reef is prohibited.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mabin |first=M. C. G. |title=Field survey for carbonate, silica and quartzose sediment deposits |publisher=Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority |year=1994 |series=Research publication series no.22}}</ref> Since 1979, the erosion of individual grains of ''Baculogypsina sphaerulata'' star sand has been used as a metric of littoral drift in Japan, with scientists using the lengths of the skeletal spines to reconstruct the origins and travel distances of sediment deposits.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yasukochi |first1=Toru |last2=Kayanne |first2=Hajime |last3=Yamaguchi |first3=Toru |last4=Yamano |first4=Hiroya |date=2014-10-01 |title=Sedimentary facies and Holocene depositional processes of Laura Island, Majuro Atoll |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0169555X14002207 |journal=Geomorphology |series=Coral Reef Geomorphology |volume=222 |pages=59–67 |doi=10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.04.017 |bibcode=2014Geomo.222...59Y |issn=0169-555X|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":0" /> A similar process of measuring star sand spines was used in 2012 to study depositional processes on Raine Reef in the Great Barrier Reef.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dawson |first1=J. L. |url=https://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/9482 |title=Benthic foraminifera: their importance to future reef island resilience |last2=Hua |first2=Q. |last3=Smithers |first3=S. G. |date=2012-07-19 |publisher=International Coral Reef Society |isbn=978-0-9808572-5-2 |language=en}}</ref>
== See also == * Conchology * Glass Beach (Fort Bragg, California)
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:Foraminifera Category:Sand