Sandstone

Sandstone is an arenaceous sedimentary rock composed mainly of feldspar and quartz and varies in colour (in a similar way to sand), through grey, yellow, red, and white. Since sandstones often form highly visible cliffs and other rock formations, certain colors of sandstone may be strongly identified with certain regions. For instance, much of the North American West is well-known for its red sandstones.

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Sandstones are often relatively soft and easy to work which therefore make them a common building and paving material.

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Because of the hardness of the individual grains and uniformity of grain size, and its somewhat friable nature sandstone was the prefered mineral to make grindstones for sharpening blades and other implements.

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Rock formations that are primarily sandstone usually allow percolation of water, and are porous enough to store large quantities, making them valuable aquifers. Fine grained aquifers, such as sandstones, are more apt to filter out pollutants from the surface than are rocks with cracks and crevices such as limestones or other rocks fractured from seismic activity.

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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...

Feldspar: Feldspar is the name of an important group of rock-forming minerals which make up perhaps as much as 60% of the Earth's crust. Feldspars crystallize from magma in both intrusive and extrusive rocks; they occur as compact minerals, as veins, and are also present in many types of metamorphic rock. Roc...

Quartz: : For other uses of this word, see Quartz (disambiguation)....

Sandstone related Images and Photos (experimental)

Sandstone	Sandstone Teeth	Sandstone Rock Formations Colorado Plateau Arizona Usa	Sandstone and Conglomerate Domes of Bungle Bungle Range Western Australia
Pharaohs of the Sun Sandstone Image of Akhenaten at Karnak Egypt	Sunbeam Illuminates Sandy Floor and Sandstone Walls of a Slot Canyon Antelope Canyon Page	Coyote (Canis Latrans) Standing in Captivity Sandstone Minnesota USA	Arizona Navajo Nation Sunrise Illuminates That Sandstone Outcroppings of Monument Valley