Knowra Limestone Limestone Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of calcium carbonate. It commonly forms from accumulated marine remains or from calcium carbonate precipitated from water.
Calcite : Calcite is a crystalline mineral form of calcium carbonate, with chemical formula CaCO₃. It is the principal mineral in most limestone.
Biogenic sedimentation : Biogenic sedimentation is the accumulation of particles produced by organisms, such as shells and skeletal fragments. Marine organisms supply much of the carbonate material that builds limestone.
Portland cement : Portland cement is a hydraulic binder made chiefly by heating limestone and clay to form clinker, then grinding it with gypsum. Limestone supplies most of the calcium needed to manufacture its clinker.
White Cliffs of Dover : The White Cliffs of Dover are English sea cliffs formed largely from Cretaceous chalk, a fine-grained limestone. They expose exceptionally thick deposits of microscopic marine carbonate remains.
Aragonite : Aragonite is a crystalline mineral form of calcium carbonate with the same chemical formula as calcite. Some marine shells begin as aragonite before becoming calcite or dissolving.
Ooids : Ooids are small, rounded carbonate grains built from concentric mineral layers around a nucleus. Their presence can indicate warm, shallow, agitated water where carbonate precipitated around grains.
Quicklime : Quicklime is calcium oxide produced by heating limestone strongly enough to drive off carbon dioxide. Calcining limestone produces quicklime for construction, metallurgy, and chemical processes.
Niagara Escarpment : The Niagara Escarpment is a long cuesta in North America formed by resistant sedimentary layers, including Silurian limestone and dolostone. Its resistant carbonate strata help shape the escarpment and its waterfalls.
Carbonate sediment : Carbonate sediment consists chiefly of minerals formed from dissolved carbonate ions, including calcite and aragonite. Limestone forms when carbonate sediment accumulates and becomes rock.
Lithification : Lithification is the transformation of loose sediment into solid sedimentary rock through compaction, cementation, or both. It consolidates deposited carbonate particles into limestone.
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