Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized mineral or rock grains cemented together. Its composition and texture record how its grains were transported, deposited, and altered.

Sand: Loose sediment made of grains generally between 0.0625 and 2 millimeters in diameter. Sand-sized grains give sandstone its defining particle scale.
Lithification: The processes that turn loose sediment into solid sedimentary rock. Compaction and cementation are the central steps that lithify sandstone’s sand grains.
Provenance (geology): The origin and geological history of the material that makes up a sediment or rock. Sandstone grains preserve clues to the rocks and terrain from which they came.
Arkose: A sandstone containing abundant feldspar, commonly derived from rapidly eroding granitic terrain. Arkose is a feldspar-rich sandstone that often signals short transport from its source.
Building stone: Natural rock quarried and shaped for construction or architectural use. Durable, workable sandstone has been used in buildings and monuments.
Quartz: A hard, silica-rich mineral and a common constituent of sedimentary rocks. Its durability makes quartz grains especially likely to survive transport and accumulate in sandstone.
Compaction (geology): The reduction of sediment volume as burial pressure pushes grains closer together. Compaction reduces pore space and brings sandstone grains into contact.
Sediment transport: The movement of sediment by water, wind, ice, or gravity. Transport sorts, rounds, and redistributes the grains that later form sandstone.
Quartz arenite: A sandstone composed predominantly of quartz grains. Quartz arenite represents sandstone enriched in durable quartz through weathering and transport.
Aquifer: A permeable geological formation that stores and transmits groundwater. Porous sandstone commonly stores groundwater and supplies wells.

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