DO YOU KNOW YOUR ROCKS #5 EarthCache
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DO YOU KNOW YOUR ROCKS #5
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As with all the other earth caches in this series, we take a look at how we can learn to recognise different rock types in order to understand more of what is around us.
When arriving at GZ you will see a large rock formation that will definetly have you looking twice at it, maybe even three times now.
SANDSTONE
Sedimentary Rock Type: Clastic
Related to: Shale, conglomerate, siltstone,breccias
Color: highly variable
Texture: Sand sized grains
Origins: River, ocean, glacier and desert deposits
Common Minerals: Quartz, feldspars, micas, calcite and clays
Uses: Building material, decorative stones, tiles, tombstones, monuments, roads, ore of silica for glass, abrasives, aquifers, petroleum reservoirs.
FORMATION
As the name implies, sandstone is made up of mainly sand wich is in every aspect very small pieces of other rock types. When layer upon layer have accumilated ontop of eachother from sedimentation the weight of the top layers compact the bottom layers and sandstone is formed.
Pressure itself is just a factor in the formation of sandstone, as the sand is compacted the minerals start precipitating and fill in the spaces between the sand grains. The minerals now become a cementing agent and bonds the grains together. The most commen cementing agents are Quartz, Calcite, clays and Gypsum.
COLOUR
As sand comes in many colours and sandstone is basically sand, sandstone too will come in many colours. The commen colours are Tan, Yellow, Brown, Red, Grey, Pink, White and Black.
INCLUSIONS
A solid fragment enclosed in a mineral or rock is known as an inclusion.
Some sandstone formations have inclusions but with sandstone its a bit different with inclusions as with other rocktypes. As sandstone is made of sand and sand is small pieces of other rock we need to define sand. Grain sizes in sands are defined (in geology) within the range of 0.0625 mm to 2 mm, so by that definition we can coclude that anything larger than 2mm can be considered inclusions.
Above information was obtained from WikiPedia and Geology.com
On-site Questions
Q1: Can you see any inclusions in the Sandstone? If so what size and colour?
Q2: In your own words describe the colour variations in this specific rock formation.
Forward answers to our KINGOSRIC handle. Please forward answers as soon as possible.
Additional Hints
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