Austria
Sand Origin
Large Sandpit next to the city of Melk The geologist sand collector informs that the sand if of Linz-Melk-Formation of lowermost Miocene age.
Random Sand Fact
In Vienna, there is an archive where Austria’s sand is kept.
The samples come from all over the country. Each sand is analysed: how large the grains are, what colour they have, which minerals they contain. Everything is kept for reference.
The archive exists for the sake of old buildings. Historic plaster and imitation stone were once made with sand, and when a façade needs repair, not just any sand will do.
Conservators compare the old material with the samples and search for the sand closest to the original. That way, an old building can get back a sand like the one it was once built with.
