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| sandstone pattern on a chamber wall of rock on a site in Jordan |
This web site is a creative way of getting people excited about Sandstone. Keeping learners updated on what Sandstone
is, its origin and interesting facts about it. Also a list of available online resources is available to extend your knowledge.
Becasue a class site should be engaging I will be providing interesting information aswell as a fun experiment.
Here
are examples of the main points I might include.
1- How it's made?
2- What is it?
3- Where does it come from?
4- What is it used for?
Sandstone is a
sedimentary rock. If you are interested in knowing what sedimentary rock is and how it is formed please visit
the following link for an animated explanation, please visit: www.fi.edu/fellows/fellow1/oct98/create/sediment.htm.
Sandstone consists of grains
between 1/16 millimeters and 2 mm in size. Sandstone is made up of almost all quartz but some do carry small amounts
of other minerals sych as: clays, hematite,ilmenite, feldspar, and mica. These other
small minerals add color and different characteristics to the sandstone which is significant because the color and charactersistics
allow the rock to be easily classified. Sandstone with greater impurities can be classified as greywacke. This type
of sandstone is made up of 15% of fine-grained matrix. They are known as being tough and dense with a dark grey
or greenish color. Their sand grains are usually hard to see because they are coated with matrix. They also
consist of quartz, feldspar, other sedimentary rock, volcanic rocks, and metamorphic rocks. The greywacke sandstone
is formed from turbidity currents transportation. A transportation that maybe caused by earthquakes and hurricanes.
Other types of sandstone are quartz sandstone which is 90% quartz grains. Quartz sandstone is well-sorted and
well-rounded beccause it has been transported a far distance. Most are deposited as fluvial, beach, or dune sand. Arkose
is another type of sandstone that is 25% feldspar. They contain coarse, angular grains because they probably didnt travel
as far as quartz did. You may find Arkose near the base of a cliff. Now as for a poorly sorted sandstone, dirty
sandstone is one because of its dark colour. When a sandstone is poorly sorted it is classified as a matrix-rich sandstone.
Matrix contains of fine-grained silt or and clay in the space between larger sand grains.
Now we usually find Sandstone forming where sand is laid down and buried wether it's on river shores, desert dunes and beaches.Sandstone
is a great bulding stone for many reasons. It has character, color and is tough. You can see sandstone is a variety
of colors. The most common are tan, brown, yellow, red, grey and white. Sandstone is formed by the cementation of sand grains.
Rivers deposit sand in their channels, and then the wind piles up the sand into dunes. The waves deposit sand on also beaches
and other shallow waters. Another way is by the sea-floor spreading caused by deep-sea currents.Sandstones has a variety of
mineral composition, sorting, and rounding.
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Now if you like Experimenting
check this out!
Directions:
A day
ahead,dry out the sandstone specimens by baking them for an hour at 300 degrees to take away residual water but make sure
you cool before using them or you will burn yourself.
1. In a one-pound plastic
Solo tub, fill with about 350ml of water. Be sure to record the exact amount.
2. Weigh the specimen by
placing it on a balance and again record the answer but in grams.
3.Place the weighed snadstone
into the water-filled tub for about 7 minutes then draw and label what you see happening.
4. Now remove the rock and
blot it to dry it off as much as possible.
5. Using a graduated cylinder,
measure the water los from the tub and record it in milliliters.
6. Re-weigh the rock again
recording it in grams.
7. Calculate the percent
of gain due to the water absorption by subtracting the dry weight from its wet weight. ( divide this number by the dry weight
and multiply by 100%.
8. enter your results onto
a paper and if you are two groups or whatever put your heads together and compare observations and answers. The one with best
observation wins a buck, ok a nice Martini
Now did you not understand something?
Well if you are having a hard time understanding because of a specific term please remember
to click on defintions on the navagation bar and you'll be sure to find an answer I hope.
Also dont forget check the Facts, Origins and defintions,about sandstone!!!!
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