Indonesia

Grains of sand can be anything from a few minutes to billions of years old. If you want to meet truly newborn grains, Indonesia is a good place to look.

During explosive volcanic eruptions, magma is torn apart and tiny fragments of minerals and volcanic glass are thrown into the air. There they cool and solidify before falling back to the ground. Many are sand-sized.

Indonesia has more than 120 active volcanoes. At Bromo, a vast Sea of Sand stretches across the ancient volcanic caldera.