Rock Formation SEDIMENTARY:

Introduction:
1. The following is an explanation of two sedimentary rocks,
limestone and sandstone.

Organic Rocks:
1. Sedimentary rocks are formed on or near the surface of the
earth and generally develop in layers called strata because the
sediments are deposited over time and at different rates.
2. Limestone is an organic sedimentary rock, a rock formed
from sediments that came from once-living organisms, such
as plants or sea creatures.
3. Most of the worlds limestone is found on the floors of
tropical oceans near the equator as these oceans contain vast
amounts of marine organisms, such as coral, clams and
crinoids.
4. When these organisms die, their remains fall to the sea floor
and the action of the waves erodes them into a thick mud,
known as carbonate mud or calcite.
5. When large amounts of carbonate mud accumulate on the
ocean floor, the lower layers are compressed by the weight of
the overlying layers and water, forming a layer of limestone.
6. Most limestone forms in this way at sea and is known as
marine limestone but, sometimes the action of ocean currents
rolls the carbonate mud into beads, resulting in the formation
of oolite limestone.
7. As limestone is almost entirely composed of calcium
carbonate, it can be almost white in colour, however, it
generally has impurities such as sand, clay or iron oxide in it,
making it grey in colour.
8. An example of limestone can be seen at the Burren, Co.
Clare.

Inorganic Rocks:
1. Sandstone is an inorganic rock, a rock formed when igneous
or metamorphic rocks are attacked by the processes of
weathering and erosion (denudation).
2. These broken down particles are then transported by wind,
water or ice, deposited on land or in shallow seas and begin
to accumulate, forming layers of strata that are separated by
bedding planes.
3. These various strata are then either lithified by the weight of
the overlying rock compressing the lower sediments into
solid rock or cemented together by silica.
4. Lithification occurs in two ways: through compaction, which
is the when grains are squeezed together due to pressure from
above or through cementation, where individual particles are
bonded together by a cementing agent such as silica.
5. Irelands old red sandstone was laid down over 400 million
years ago during the Devonian Period, when the newly
formed Caledonian Mountains were quickly eroded in the
arid climate, producing enormous amounts of sediment.
6. In Ireland, flash floods transported these large quantities of
sediments and deposited them on the shallow seabed as
floodplains and deltas and, over time, these sediments were
lithified.
7. An example of sandstone can be seen at The Caha Mountains,
Co. Cork.