The word Oolitic was used as an adjective for Oolitic limestone (derived from the Greek word oolite, meaning eggs and stone). Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed of calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate and quartz, along with the small shells left behind when this area was covered by an inland sea. Found immediately north of Oolitic, Indiana (about 100 miles southeast of here) are some of the largest Limestone quarries in the world, many of them in continuous operation since the 1830s. But there are other quarries closer as well. It has been forgotten with time from which specific quarry that this limestone came from, but below is an image showing where Oolitic limestone can be found in Indiana.
Oolitic Limestone is a sedimentary rock. It can have a color of White, Pink, Red, Gray or Black. It is a sedimentary rock composed of mostly calcite oolites. Oolites which form when layers of calcite are deposited around a sand grain or fossil piece and are rolled around in calm water, which makes them round.
Limestones are so many and various that a thorough discussion of the conditions governing or influencing their deposition would occupy a volume of considerable size. Therefore, only those conditions that have developed the features in the Indiana oolitic limestone are considered in this description. Limestone may be formed by the deposition of calcium carbonate from three sources: from shells and other hard parts of animals or plants (organic origin); from direct chemical precipitation, with or without the aid of living matter; or from debris accumulated by erosion of older limestones. Most limestones, including the oolitic stone of Indiana, are derived from more than one of these sources. For example, coral reefs are primarily the result of organic deposition and may be regarded as accumulations of the skeletons of many generations of corals; but the cavities in these skeletons that were originally occupied by soft parts of the animal may sooner or later become filled with additional calcium carbonate deposited from sea water in the same manner that salt is deposited from brine. Besides the corals themselves, shells of mollusks, large or small, and of small organisms, such as Foraminifera, may also accumulate; From this complex mass, which is repeatedly attacked by the waves, fragments may be broken and washed back and forth for a time but eventually become cemented together by additional calcium carbonate from the sea water and remain close by or even upon the original coral mass. The entire formation is therefore due in part to all three modes of origin.
The foundation of the red sheriff's residence and the walls of the jail is rusticated limestone. Rustication is found in ashlar masonry; a finished, stone block laid in horizontal courses with mortar. The term rustication applies when ashlar masonry is arranged so that the face of the stone projects out, typically accomplished with deep joints separating each stone block. The face of the block can range in design, but will at least provide some contrast to ordinary stonework. Rusticated masonry can feature a rock-face or a diamond point on the stone face.
To log this earthcache, please send answers to the following questions to my account:
- Describe the look of the limestone. Texture, color, size?
- Do you see any oolites in the limestone? How big are they?
- Using the above description, what do you think was the source of this limestone?
- Do you see any fossils in the limestone?
- Compare the limestone on the red sheriff's residence foundation to the limestone on the jail walls. What is similar? What is different?
- Post a picture of yourself (face not required) or a personal item at the Old Jail.