Sedimentary Rock – Limestone Composition & Structure

The limestones are carbonate rocks composed usually chiefly of calcite, although dolomite may also be at times an important constituent. The carbonate has in the great majority of cases been extracted from the sea water by the agency o minute organisms and then deposited in beds which ultimately are consolidated into rock. These rocks are usually fine-and even-grained in structure and sometimes quite dense. Some limestones are quite pure calcite, while others contain claylike materials and various oxides as impurities. The color of a limestone is usually gray, although it may be white, yellow, brown to almost black. It is a soft rock, to be easily scratched by a knife. It will effervesce readily in any common acid. In the case of limestones composed of dolomite, however, the acid needs to be heated. Oolite, or oolitic limestone, is a variety which consists of an aggregate of small spherical concretions. Chalk is a very fine-grain ed friable limestone composed of shell of minute sea animals known as foramifera. Travertine is a deposit of calcium carbonate formed by springs. A fine example exists in the deposits formed by the Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Park. Marl is a loose, earthy material composed of a carbonate mixed with clay in variable amount.

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