In the history of the earth, are there more likely to have been more snowflakes, or more grains of sand?

Snowflakes.

Snowflakes during the Glacier Age. Some were 2 or more miles thick.

Snowflakes. They are constantly renewable by the melt-freeze cycle, sand is dependent on finite resources.

Snowflakes were not 2 miles thick William!

@Dutchess_III Dinosaur snowflakes? ;-)

Snowflakes.

How far underground, and how densely packed, does sand need to be before it’s not considered sand?

Steam particles has them both beat, I expect. ;-)

The glacier was made by falling snow.

All glaciers are Willie!

^^ But not all glaciers are two or more miles thick – that was his point. smh

I’m guessing snowflakes. They’re produced so quickly relative to grains of sand, it’s winter at all times in one of the hemispheres. Just think about how many gajillion snowflakes must be produced in a large snowstorm, and then think about how many of those happen across all of the continents in that hemisphere in a given winter.

By contrast, I believe that the production of sand is a very slow process (I could be mistaken though and perhaps there are mechanisms in nature for rapid creation of sand).

Define “sand”.

Snowflakes by a long shot.