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Sandstone: All about this wonderful stone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock that consists of grains between 1/16 millimeters and 2 mm in size.

Author: Steve Manik

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Sandstone is a sedimentary rock that consists of grains between 1/16 millimeters and 2 mm in size. This is the reason that sandstone does not signify any specific mineral. When we talk about scientific composition, sandstone is made up of quartz. It also consists of some other minerals such as clays, hematite, feldspar, ilmenite and mica. All these minerals add color and character to the quartz matrix. Sandstones with large amounts of impurities are generally categorized into wacke or graywacke.

Sandstone originates from the space where sand is laid down and buried. This usually happens offshore. However, you can also find desert dunes and beaches leaving sandstone beds. You would not see sandstone containing good amount of fossils due to the unfavorable environment for preservation. The stone is available in warm colors and very durable.

Quartz grains in sandstone are mixed together by a mixture of silica, calcium carbonate or iron oxide. The presence of iron minerals makes this stone filled with tan and brown bands.

When deeply buried, this stone becomes mobile due to the burial pressure and higher temperatures. The grains stick together and the sandstones turn into metamorphic rocks.

Sandstone can be defined as an arenaceous sedimentary rock that is made up of quartz and feldspar. The stones vary in color and are available in a variety of colors such as white, grey, red and yellow.

Sandstone is very soft and easy to work with. This makes it very good choice for building and paving material. Clastic in nature, these stones are opposed to organic such as chalk or coal. These are a result of cemented grains or some other mono-minerallic crystals under pressure.

The sedimentation pressure grains out of river, lake or sea helps in the formation of sandstone. If you want to analyze the characteristics of sandstone, you should pay equal attention to the environment of deposition.

The main environments of deposition can be easily split between terrestrial and sea groupings. Here are some of the typical groupings available under this category.

a) Terrestrial environments:
Rivers and Lakes
b) Sea environments:
Turbidites, shoreface sands and details

There are several types of sandstones available for consumer use. These can be divided into the following groups:

a) Arkosic sandstones:
These possess a high amount of feldspar. The amount of feldspar here is about less than 25% of the stone.
b) Quartzose sandstones:
These sandstones possess a higher amount of quartz inside them. The best example of these sandstones is quartzite that has less than 90% of quartz content.
c) Argillaceous sandstones:
This category is known for its significant fine grained element. One of the best examples of this sandstone is greywacke.

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Sandstone: All about this wonderful stone