Ironstone

Ironstone is a fine-grained, heavy and compact sedimentary rock. Its main components are the carbonate or oxide of iron, clay and/or sand. It can be thought as a concretionary form of siderite. Ironstone also contains clay, and sometimes calcite and quartz.

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Freshly cleaved ironstone is usually gray. The brown external appereance is due to oxidation of its surface.

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Ironstone, being a sedimentary rock is not always homogeneous, and can be found in a red and black banded form called tiger iron, sometimes used for jewelry purposes.

Sedimentary rock: Sedimentary rock is one of the three main rock groups (along with igneous and metamorphic rocks) and is formed in three main ways—by the deposition of the weathered remains of other rocks (known as clastic sedimentary rocks); by the deposition of the results of biogenic activity; and by precip...

Iron: Iron is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Fe (L.: Ferrum) and atomic number 26. Iron is a group 8 and period 4 metal. Iron is notable for being the final element produced by stellar nucleosynthesis, and thus the heaviest element which does not require a supernova or simil...

Clay: :For the town in the United States, see Clay, New York....