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How Is Sea Glass Made?
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How is Sea Glass Made?
Marooned on an island, he throws a bottle into the ocean...possible but unlikely source of sea glass? How is beach glass made?
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The nicely-tumbled glass with the frosted but glowing colors that we easily recognize as sea or beach glass likely came from a much more humble source - the trash dump.
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| Then how is sea glass made? |
The origin of sea glass began with what was once bottles, jars, glassware, dinnerware, et cetera.
It usually ended up in bodies of water as garbage (possibly broken so no longer useful) or possibly because of boats being grounded in storms. For home dwellers that lived close by the sea or lakes, that was as good a place as any to get rid of their refuse.
Years ago, people weren't too concerned about the environment, so a lot
of junk and garbage was dumped into the oceans and lakes. Sea glass usually refers to naturally tumbled glass that's found on saltwater shores, while beachglass or beach glass can refer to the tumbled glass found on any body of water with enough wave action, such as large lakes..
Another way
it finds its way to the beach is from boats. Remember the story about the note from someone marooned on an island who puts a note in a bottle and throws it out in the current and someone on the other side of the world finds it? Corked bottles will float a long way. Amazingly, uncorked bottles can float long distances also.
Glass found along shipping lanes can often come from sailors throwing bottles into the sea (no longer done, of course!). There are also interesting pieces of glass from oriental fishing floats that have broken up on the beach.
How is sea glass made...The shards from these various sources have been tumbling around in the water, sometimes for decades, before finding their way onto a given beach at a given time. Over time, nature takes what was once man's garbage and turns it into sparkling natural gems.
This process is the result of wave action tumbling the shards among rocks and sand between the tide lines. Tides twice a day cycle, cover, and uncover that glass, exposing all sides to sunlight and, with the passage of time, some of the components of the glass are leached by the water around it, resulting in that frosted look that identifies genuine tumbled sea glass.
The amount of wave action directly affects how quickly a shard will become real sea glass. Sea glass/seaglass shards could take from 5-50 or more years to become that true object of natural art and beauty that we so love.
Click here for other factors affecting the process of "How is sea glass made?"
Claudia
showing Kiley and Adrianna the Sea Glass
;">There's something so alluring about walking on the shore and finding a piece of sea glass.
For many, it's closely tied up with fond memories of childhood, family visits to the beaches, solitary walks alone.
For others, it's trying to figure out where the sea glass came from - what's the history of that particular piece of sea glass - how old is it. For them, that's half the fun of it.
It's kind of like solving a mystery - how is sea glass made, how'd this particular piece come to be what it is. It's something we never get tired of doing. That wondering what we'll find today is what keeps us going back to the beach, right?
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What Makes the Colors in Sea Glass? Why Are Some Colors Rare?
Return from How is Sea Glass Made to Home Page
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The Many Faces of Sea Glass
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Sea Glass
Color Pages:
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