Sand grains enclosed in gypsum crystals which grew in otherwise uncemented sand commonly, either float in the gypsum, or, are arrayed in sand-bearing and sand-free zones in a manner which indicates that they were displaced during growth of the gypsum. Corroborative evidence of displacement of included sand grains is found in some sandy gypsum crystals from coastal sabkhas in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. In these crystals, dust particles which formerly coated the sand grains are strung out as festoons behind the grains and thus record the directions and extent of the displacement. The direction of displacement was outwards, normal to the traces of what had been former crystal faces. The displacement also involved some pivoting of elongate grains which now lie with their long axes in the direction of movement.