In the Simple Ideal Model For The Evolution Of Sedimentary Rocks we said that if weathering, transportation, and sorting

go to completion all that remains are three end member rock compositions. Siliciclastic Rocks Carbonate Rocks QUARTZ arenite SHALE LIMESTONE/DOLOMITE Limestones are not single composition rocks but a group of related rocks all composed of CaCO3 and reacting with dilute HCl acid. Limestone [CaCO3] is also chemically related to dolomite [CaMg(CO3)2]. Because all these rocks have CO3- - in common they are called thecarbonates. The composition of most carbonates is derived from a combination of biological and chemical components. Two carbonate classification systems are in common use today, one by R.L. Folk and the second by R.J. Dunham . The Dunham system is based on depositional texture (that is, the amount of matrix surrounding the grains at the time of deposition). It uses such names as mudstone, wackestone, packstone, grainstone, and boundstone. Each classification has its strengths,but we use the Folk system here. Carbonate rock names (limestones and dolomites) consist of a conjunction of two names, one describing the ALLOCHEMS, the large pieces, the other describing the INTERSTITIAL MATERIAL. Allochems are equivalent to gravel, sand, lithics or feldspars in the siliciclastics. Interstitial material is equivalent to clay or cements in clastics. There are four kinds of allochems:

Fossils - may be whole fossils, or broken and abraded fossils;

all are called "bio" fragments

Oolites - small, pearl-like spheres ALLOCHEMS Pellets - fecal pellets produced by invertebrate animals; look
superficially like oolites but are dull and not pearl-like

Intraclasts - chunks of eroded limestone deposited as a

conglomerate

Micrite and Sparite Interstitial Material

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Micrite is "lime mud", the dense, dull-looking sediment made of clay sized crystals of CaCO3. Much micrite today forms from the breakdown of calcareous algae skeletons. It is not clear if all ancient micrites formed in the same way. Many carbonates are composed of nearly 100% micrite. Such rocks are simply called micrites. With carbonates containing allochems the question is whether micrite is present or absent as an interstitial material, and if present by how much. If micrite is present during deposition then it fills the spaces between the allochems and the rock will be given a name which describes the allochems in a micrite matrix. For example, a rock with fossil fragments embedded in micrite is called a "Biomicrite". Biomicrite is analogous to a siliciclastic wacke, sand imbedded in a lot of matrix. If, on the other hand, the depositional environment has strong currents, only allochems may be deposited. If we could see the sediment during deposition all the allochems would be loose, like a pure sand or gravel. This is analogous to a 100% siliciclastic sand on a beach with no silt or clay. (With carbonates, though, such "clean" sands are not confined to beaches.) Micrite in these cases, being clay sized, has been washed away. The rock formed is then composed only of allochems, held together by clear to translucent calcite crystals with rhombohedral cleavage (called SPAR or SPARITE) acting as a cement. The spar is precipitated from fresh or marine water percolating through the sediment after deposition, but before final cementation. This Oosparite shows well the spar cement.

Classification of Carbonates
The classification of carbonates using the allochem/interstitial material system (the Folk System) is very systematic and straight forward. The allochem name is combined with the interstitial name (micrite or spar). The table below shows the major categories of carbonate rocks based on their allochems and interstitial material.

But what happens if there is more than one allochem in the rock, or there is a mixture of micrite and spar? This classification system has great flexibility and creativity. You can easily build your own descriptive rock names. The name is built up by stringing together all the allochem names in order from least to most abundant, and then adding the interstitial material name ("matrix" below for short). For example, a rock like this: Oolites + Fossils + Spar matrix = Oo bio sparite
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The name is written as one word, Oobiosparite. Another example (again allochems from least to most abundant): Pellets + Oolites + Fossils + Micrite matrix = pel oo bio micrite The name is written as one word, Peloobiomicrite. But what if there is both micrite and spar matrix? The system is the same; just list them from least to most abundant. Fossils + Spar matrix + Micrite matrix = bio spar micrite

This system goves through other levels of refinement, such as the table below where the abundance of allochems is dealt with. Other modifiers deal with different sizes of allochems. But all this is beyond our discussion here.

A classification such as this one works well if you want to construct rock names from observations. The system, however, does not lend itself well to constructing keys for classification. A key requires the establishment of arbitrary categories of rocks, and a system like the one above deal with all the myriad combinations that are possible. Nonetheless, we have constructed a key to identify rocks based on their allochems and interstitial material. Just be aware that its main weakness is that there are always rocks that do not fit easily into its simple categories.

Carbonate Identification Key

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Definitions:
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Carbonate Rocks
Carbonate rocks are a class of sedimentary rocks composed primarily of carbonate minerals. The two major types are limestone, which is composed of calcite or aragonite (different crystal forms of CaCO3) and dolostone, which is composed of the mineral dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2). Calcite can be either dissolved by groundwater or precipitated by groundwater, depending on several factors including the water temperature, pH, and dissolved ion concentrations.

Siliciclastic
rocks (commonly misspelled siliclastic) are clastic noncarbonate sedimentary rocks that are almost exclusively silica-bearing, either as forms of quartz or other silicate minerals. All siliciclastic rocks are formed by inorganic processes, or deposited through some mechanical process, such as stream deposits (delta deposits) that are subsequently lithified. They aresandstone based rocks accounting for about 50 - 60% of the world oil and gas exploration.The other silicate minerals that are generally present in siliciclastic sedimentary rocks are feldspar, biotite etc.

Matrix or groundmass
of rock is the finer grained mass of material in which larger grains crystals or clasts are embedded.

Allochem
is a term to describe the recognisable 'grains' in carbonate rocks. Any fragment from around mm upwards in size may be considered an allochem. Examples would include ooids, peloids, oncolites, pellets, fossil or pre-existing carbonate fragments.

Lithic fragments, or lithics,

are pieces of other rocks that have been eroded down to sand size and now are sand grains in a sedimentary rock.

Oolite

rock composed of small concretions, usually of calcium carbonate, containing a nucleus and clearly defined concentric shells. In the British Isles oolitic limestone is characteristic of the middle and upper Jurassic, which was formerly termed the Oolite on this account.

Pellets
Pellets are small spherical to ovoid or rod-shaped grains that are common component of many limestones. They are typically 0.03 to 0.3 mm long and composed of carbonate mud (micrite). Their most common size is 0.04 to 0.08 mm.

Intraclasts
are irregularly-shaped grains that form by syndepositional erosion of partially lithified sediment. Gravel grade material is generally composed of whole disarticulated or broken skeletal fragments together with sand grade material of whole, disaggregated and broken skeletal debris. Such sediments can contain fragments of early cemented limestones of local origin which are known as intraclasts.

Dismicrite
Fine-grained limestone of obscure origin, resembling micrite but containing sparry calcite bodies.

Micrite
is a limestone constituent formed of calcareous particles ranging in diameter up to 4 m formed by the recrystallization of lime mud.

Biomicrite
a rock with fossil fragments embedded in micrite is called a "Biomicrite".

Oomicrite
A limestone containing at least 25% ooliths and no more than 25% intraclasts in which the carbonate-mud matrix (micrite) is more abundant than the sparry-calcite cement.

Pelmicrite
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A limestone containing less than 25% each of intraclasts and ooliths, having a volume ratio of pellets to fossils greater than 3 to 1, and with the micrite matrix more abundant than the sparry-calcite cement.

Intramicrite
A limestone consisting of intraclasts set in a micrite matrix.

Sparite
In the Folk classification of carbonate rocks a sparite is a rock in which the matrix consists primarily of sparry calcite formed during diagenesis. Sparites are prefixed according to their most abundant allochem into oosparite, pelsparite, biosparite and intrasparite.

Biosparite
A limestone made up of less than 25% oolites and less than 25% intraclasts, with the ratio by volume of fossils and fragments to pellets being more than 3:1 and the calcite cement content being greater than the microcrystalline calcite content.

Oosparite

A limestone containing at least 25% ooliths and no more than 25% intraclasts in which the sparry-calcite cement is more abundant that the carbonate-mud matrix.

Intrasparite

A limestone consisting sparry calcite (sparite).

of intraclasts cemented

together

with

Pelsparite

A limestone containing less than 25% each of intraclasts and ooliths, having a volume ratio of pellets to fossils greater than 3 to 1, and with the sparrycalcite cement more abundant than the micrite matrix.

Sparry calcite
A clean, coarse-grained calcite crystal. Also known as calcsparite; sparite.