Carbonate rock

A sedimentary rock composed predominantly of carbonate minerals, especially calcite or dolomite. Limestone and dolostone are its common examples.

Calcite: A calcium carbonate mineral with composition CaCO₃ and the principal mineral in most limestones. Its abundance makes calcite the defining mineral of many carbonate rocks.
Carbonate platform: A broad, shallow-water accumulation of carbonate sediment built on a continental margin or isolated seafloor. Platforms provide the settings where thick carbonate successions accumulate.
Aquifer: A permeable body of rock or sediment that stores and transmits groundwater. Fractured and dissolved carbonate rocks can form highly productive aquifers.
White Cliffs of Dover: A coastal chalk escarpment in southeast England formed from Cretaceous marine carbonate deposits. Its chalk is a conspicuous example of carbonate rock made largely from microscopic fossils.
Siliciclastic rock: A sedimentary rock made chiefly of fragments derived from pre-existing silicate rocks. Unlike carbonate rock, it is built mainly from transported mineral and rock grains.
Dolomite: A calcium magnesium carbonate mineral with composition CaMg(CO₃)₂. It is the principal mineral in dolostone, a major carbonate-rock type.
Biomineralization: The process by which organisms produce minerals, including carbonate shells and skeletons. Organism-built carbonate material contributes substantially to many limestones.
Limestone quarrying: The extraction of limestone for construction, cement, aggregate, and industrial uses. Limestone is a widely quarried source of building material and feedstock.
Capitan Formation: A Permian carbonate formation in Texas and New Mexico that forms the major reef complex of the Guadalupe Mountains. It preserves a prominent ancient carbonate reef and its surrounding deposits.
Evaporite: A sedimentary rock formed by precipitation of soluble minerals as water evaporates. Evaporites form through concentration of brines rather than carbonate accumulation or precipitation.

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