Sandstone

Introduction
What is Sandstone?
• Sandstone is one of the most common kinds of clastic
sedimentary rocks consists of sand-size (0.06 to 2 mm) clasts or
grains of minerals and organic matters.
Formation of Sandstone 
• The formation of sandstone occurs mostly into two phases,
sedimentation/accumulation & compaction. Sedimentation of
sand particles takes place either through water or air.
Compaction occurs with physical pressure and chemical changes.
The steps are:
• Sedimentation of quartz crystals
• Formation of cement & matrix
• Formation of pores
 Types of Sandstone Components
• The first phase forms sand clasts or grains due to
transportation of sand particles from the source. The second
phase forms cement or binding material and matrix as filler
between the framework grains or clasts. The pore space is a
void where no clasts, cement, or matrix matter exists. Let’s
know these components of sandstone with some details.
 Classification of Sandstone
• Framework Grain-based Classification
• Cement-based Classification
 What is limestone?
• Limestone = a biochemical sedimentary rock
made up mostly of calcium carbonate

Mineral Crystal system Formula Remarks

Calcite Rhombohedral CaCO3 Dominant limestone mineral,

especially in rocks older than
Cenozoic

Aragonite Orthorhombic CaCO3 Dominant mineral in Recent

carbonate sediments; alters readily
to calcite
 How do limestones form?
• Most limestones are simply the cemented
remains of marine shells
• Limestone “anatomy”
– Grains
• Skeletal particles, ooids, peloids
– Lime mud
• Microscopic crystals produced by calcareous algae
and through abrasion of larger particles
– Cement
• Inorganically precipitated CaCO3 crystals
Skeletal grains
ooids
peloids
Lime mud
Calcite cement
 Factors affecting precipitation of CaCO3
in sea water
Factor Type of change Physical effect Effect on CaCO3
Temperature Increase Loss of CO2, Increase
increase in pH precipitation

Pressure Decrease Loss of CO2, Increase

increase in pH precipitation

Salinity Decrease Decrease activity Increase

of “foreign” precipitation
cations
Photosynthesis Removes CO2 from sea water; pH Increase
increases precipitation
Bacterial activity Catalyzes CaCO3 precipitation Increase
precipitation
 Where do limestones form?
• Because CaCO3 precipitates most readily in
warm, well lit, agitated water of normal
marine salinity…..most limestones form in
shallow, tropical depositional
environments
– e.g., Bahamas, central America, Persian Gulf, NW
shelf of Australia, Great Barrier Reef, Malaysia,
Indonesia, etc.
What are limestone products?

• Whole rock
– Crushed limestone
– Dolomitic limestone
• Burned lime (calcium oxide)
– High calcium lime
– Dolomitic lime
• Hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide)
 How is limestone used?
• Construction 
• Soil stabilization
• Flue Gas Desulfurization
• Steel Production (flux for blast furnaces)
• Glass Production
• Water Treatment
• Waste Treatment
• Paper Production (filler)
• Chemical Production
• Masonry, Mortars and Other Building Materials
 Introduction

 Mineralogy

 Textures

 Mode of occurrences
 Types

 Occurrences

 Reference

 conclusion
The word "granite" comes from the Latin granum ,
Granite is a common type of
plutonic intrusive, felsic, igneous rock which is granular
and phaneritic in texture.
This rock consists mainly of quartz, mica, and feldspar.
By definition, granite is an igneous rock with at least 20% quartz by
volume. Outcrops of granite tend to form rounded massifs.
Granites sometimes occur in circular depressions surrounded by a
range of hills.
Granite is nearly always massive ,hard and tough, and therefore it has
gained widespread use as a construction stone. The
average density of granite is between 2.65 and 2.75 g/cm3,Melting
temperature is 1215 - 1260 °C.
 Essential minerals
Feldspar and quartz are the most important
mierals
Quartz makes up about 10-30%
• it is anhedral and occur
Orthoclase as phenocryst
Feldspar
Feldspar-alkali feldspar,orthoclase,microcline
Quartz
Accessory minerals
Biotite –common mafic mineral in granites.colour varies with fe
content.
Hornblende-green hornblende seen in calcalkali granites
amphibole
Pyroxene
Hedenbergite

Minor accessories
Tourmaline,(schorl rock)
topaz,epidote,garnet(almandine,spessartine),apatite,epidote
Granite is classified according to the QAPF diagram for coarse
grained plutonic rocks and is named according to the percentage of
quartz, alkali feldspar (orthoclase, sanidine, or microcline)
and plagioclase feldspar.

Granite differs from granodiorite in that at least 35% of the feldspar in

granite is alkali feldspar as opposed to plagioclase; it is the alkali feldspar
that gives many granites a distinctive pink color.

When a granitoid contains less than 10% orthoclase, it is

called tonalite; pyroxeneand amphibole are common in tonalite. A granite
containing both muscovite and biotite micas is called a binary or two-
mica granite. Two-mica granites are typically high
in potassium and low in plagioclase, and are usually S-type granites or A-
type granites. The volcanic equivalent of granite is rhyolite and
hypabyssal is granophyre(Tyrrell’s classification)
Granite is a phanerocrystalline rock which is
medium to coarse grained.
They also in holocrystaline, hypidiomorphic,
granular rocks
Some granites exhibit porphyritic
texture(phenocryst-feldspar), orbicular texture,
graphic(qtz & fldspr), granophyric texture
Occasionally some individual crystals (phenocrysts)
are larger than the groundmass, in which case the
texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock
with a porphyritic texture is sometimes known as
a porphyry. Granites can be pink to gray in color,
depending on their chemistry and mineralogy.
Granites occur as huge batholiths of great dimensions usually
occuring in the cores of mountain
ranges(stocks,bosses,laccoliths)
The huge bodies does not show any peculiar structure
Moral jointing is common and rift and grain is also present in
most varieties.
The basic minerals like biotite,amphibole occur as
seggregations and patches in the granite body.sometimes
parallel arrangement of minerals(foliation) may be seen
Mica granite –the micas,muscovite and biotite together make up
10% of the rock. other accessory minerals are allanite, sphene,
apatite, magnetite and guorite. It is the most abundant type of
granite.
Biotite hornblende granite – these are next in abundance.
These
rocks are somewhat more basic. A few of them carry pyroxenes.
Pyroxene granite- this type is rare. Biotite and hornblende are
entirely absent here or make up only vary small
amount.clinopyroxene is the chief mafic minerals. Orbicular
granite – it exhibits orbicular structure. The orbicules are made
up of layers of biotite and quartz.
Granite, pegmatites and aplites – these are very common in
and around a granitic body. The pegmatites have the intergrowth
texture and are very coarse grained. They are store house of a
number of valuable minerals. The aplites are finegrained,
equigranular, allotriomorphic rocks. They occur as contact facies
in a granitic body.
Alkali granite – this is a granite marked by the occurrence of
amphibole and puroxene rich in Na and Fe. The rock is
usuallymade up of sodic and potassic feldspars(75%).perthite
is common. Aegerine and riebeckite are the common mafics.
Accessories are apatite,sphene,zircon,iron ore etc.
Porphyritic granite – exhibits the porphyritic texture.
Phenocrysts are orthoclase, microcline, perthite.
Granite and granite gneiss are too common in peninsular
India and cover vast areas in Indian geology.
Typical granite occurrences are Singhbhum granite(Bihar),
Bundelkhand granite(Rajasthan), Erinpura granite, Idar
granite, Closepet granite, Chamundi granite(Karnataka).
Granites of North arcot and Sankaridrug in Tamilnadu and
granites of Himalayas.alkali granite are seen in Siwana
and Tatanagar.
It is a coarse-grained structure of such a crystalline rock.
Granite is usually found in the continental plates of
the Earth's crust(magma).
This rock consists mainly of quartz, feldspar, mica etc
(Curling) another name for a granite stone.
A common, coarse-grained, light-colored, hard igneous rock
consisting chiefly of quartz, orthoclase or microcline, and
mica, used in monuments and for building.
Igneous and metamorphic petrology(1962), Francis
J.Turner,McGraw-Hill book company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/granite
Dolerite
• Introduction
• Mineralogy
• Textures
• Classification of dolerite
• Dolerite dyke
• Formation of dolerite
• Distribution
• Uses
• Conclusion
• A dolerite is the medium-grained equivalent of a
basalt - a basic rock dominated by plagioclase
and pyroxene.

• Dolerites also often include olivine or quartz

and can be alkali basalts, olivine tholeiites or
quartz tholeiites. They can contain a wide range
of accessory minerals including hornblende and
biotite. Dolerites usually have an ophitic texture
• Dolerite is typically found as a hypabyssal
igneous rock, typically within dykes. Dykes may
also contain basalt instead of dolerite.

• Diabase is often used as a synonym of dolerite by

american geologists, however, in europe the
term is usually only applied to altered dolerites.
 Mineralogy: Phenocrysts comprise olivine (olivine diabase) and/or
pyroxene or plagioclase. The groundmass comprises the same minerals
with iron oxide, and sometimes with some quartz, hornblende or biotite.
• Ophitic texture - laths of plagioclase in a coarse
grained matrix of pyroxene crystals, where in
the plagioclase is totally surrounded by
pyroxene grains. This texture is common in
diabases and gabbros.
• Subophitic texture - similar to ophitic texture
where in the plagioclase grains are not
completely enclosed in a matrix of pyroxene
grains.
• Pyroxene and calcic plagioclase,typically
labradorite ,as essential constituents,with or
without some olivine and a variable amount of
interstitial residum consisting of alkali
feldspar and quartz, often intergrowth .
• The accessory constituents are iron-ore and
apatite with ,in some a little hornblende or
biotite.
• Single lime-rich more or less titaniferous
augite as their pyroxene.
• They normally have olivine as a further
essential constituent and not infrequently
have a little interstitial analcite.
• They may be illustrated by those occurring
in Tertiary igneous province of scotland.
• Vertical Triassic
diabase cross-
cutting Jura-
Triassic
sedimentary strata
• Note dike offset
A view of
the dolerite
dyke cutting
through the
granite.
Sam Edwards on
the first ascent of
Slap Dancer (26,
5.12b), a dolerite
pillar in the Organ
Pipes, Tasmania,
Australia
Formation of
dolerite
Dolerite cools under
basaltic volcanoes, like those at
mid-ocean ridges. It cools
moderately quickly
when magma moves up into fractures
and weak zones below a volcano.
There, it forms dikes (tabular igneous
rock bodies that cut across pre-
existing rock layers or bodies) or
sills(tabular igneous rock bodies that
form parallel to pre-existing rock
layers). The moderate cooling rate
allows small visible crystals to form
in the rock.
 Distributio
n
• Tholeiitic dolerite - occur in karroo of
South Africa and those of Tasmania and
Antartica were intruded.

• Alkali dolerites - occur in Scotland

particularly in where they may form large
sills. Midlands of England, as at Rowley
Regis, near Birmingham; in the Clee hills,
Shropshire and Derbyshire.
In geological timescale this Karoo dolerite intruded
approximately 83 million years ago during the
Mesozoic era
 Uses
• Dolerite are used in monumental
masonry,building material,concrete
aggregate, paving stone, road stone, road
stones and ornamental stones.
 Conclusion
• A dolerite is the medium-grained equivalent of a
basalt - a basic rock dominated by plagioclase and
pyroxene.
• One of its distinguishing character is its ophitic
texture.
• Dolerite is typically found as a hypabyssal igneous
rock, typically within dykes, however, it may also
occur in sills.
• Tholeiitic dolerite and alkali dolerite are the two
types.
 CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Environment and occurrence
 Mineralogy
 Types of basalts
 Origin
 Deccan traps
 Conclusion
 References
 INTRODUCTION

 Basalt is a common extrusive igneous or

volcanicformed from the rapid cooling basaltic
rock
of lava exposed at or very near the
surface.

 It
Theis also known
term as a dark
basalt is volcanic
at timesrock applied to
shallow intrusive rocks with a composition typical of
basalt, but rocks of this composition with a coarse
groundmass and are generally referred to as gabbro.
 ENVIRONMENT AND OCCURENCE

 Basalts commonly occur as lava

flows because of their low volatile
content
 When rising basaltic magma

encounters groundwater the magma

may vesiculate to form flow
breccias or erupt to form cinder
cones
 It covers all the ocean floor except where they

themselves are covered by continental-

 CONT……

 It is the most abundant igneous rock at or near the

earth’s surface
 The most voluminous are also called MORB
 The great flood of basalts that have been extruded
onto the continents, form extensive nearly horizontal
flows erupted from fissure swarms
 Most basalts are erupted from tensional or rift
environment except for the arc volcanic rocks or hot-
spot basalts.
Mineralogy

 Composed of plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene in

the ratio of 50:50.and magnetite and may contain
olivine.
 Alkaline basalts may contain a little nepheline or
alkali feldspar
 On the basis of mineralogy there are three different
types of basalts viz., tholeiitic, transitional and alkali
basalts
 Basalt is usually grey to black in colour, but
rapidly weathers to brown or rust-red due
to oxidation of its mafic (iron-rich)
minerals into rust
 Alteration minerals in ocean floor

basalts include green to light brown

palagonite, chlorite, epidote, celadonite,
goethite, hematite, calcite and zeolite
vesicular basalt with many small Basalt showing
vesicles aphinitic texture
Pillow basalts on the south Outcrop of a pillow basalt
Pacific seafloor
Columnar basalt in Turkey Thin section
 TYPES OF BASALTS

 Tholeiitic basalt: relatively rich in silica and poor

in sodium. Basalts of the ocean floor and
continental flood basalts comes under this.
 MORB (Mid Ocean Ridge Basalt): characteristically
low in incompatible elements. Commonly erupted
only at ocean ridges.
 High alumina basalt :may be silica-undersaturated or
oversaturated. Alumina (Al2O3) content is more than
17% and intermediate in composition i.e.between
tholeiite and alkali basalt
 CONT….

 Alkali basalt:relatively poor in silica and rich in

sodium. It is silica-undersaturated and may
contain feldspathoids, alkali feldspar and phlogopite
 Boninite: is a high-magnesium form of basalt that is
erupted generally in back-arc basins, distinguished by
its low titanium content and trace element
composition.
ORIGIN

 The origin of basaltic magma is universally accepted

as involving melting within the earth’s mantle
 Evolve by fractional crystallization as separate series
along different paths. Each is chemically distinct
 Tholeiites are generated at mid-ocean ridges, oceanic
islands, subduction zones
 Alkaline basalts generated at oceanic islands and at
subduction zones
Cont..
 The melting behavior of basalts indicates that it is
the partial melting products of a more primitive
rock (e.g. garnet peridotite).

In the region of magma generation (below 60
km) the parental material, presumed to be garnet
peridotite, yields an eclogitic magma and its
fractionation depends on the garnet and omphacite
of the eclogite, not on plagioclase and
clinopyroxene of a basaltic magma.
Cont…
 Increase of the garnet constituents in the magma at
high pressure by effective removal of omphacite
or shift of the garnet-omphacite boundary surface
will give rise to a tholeiite-type magma at low
pressure.
 Increase of the omphacite constituents in the magma
at high pressure by physical or physicochemical
means will give rise to an alkali basalt-type magma at
low pressure.
 In general, alkali basalt-type magmas are to be
expected to be generated at greater depths than
tholeiite-type magmas from the same primary source
rock.
Theories
Origin 1: Mechanism involving partial melting under
under different condition
-higher pressure or lower temperature partial melting
of mantle material produce alkaline basalt whereas
lower pressure or higher temperature partial melting
produce tholeiitic magma
2: Mechanism involving stage of melting or degree of
melting
-early stage of partial melting of garnet peridotite
produce tholeiitic basalt, whereas an intermediate
stage give rise to alkaline olivine basalt
Cont….
3. Mechanisms involving partial melting of a mantle
source of different composition
- MOR basalts contain less radiogenic Pb and Sr, and
more radiogenic Nd, and depleted light REEs
compared with continental tholeiites and are
probably derived from mantle of different
compositions
- Tholeiitic basalts form by partial melting of
peridotite containing H2O, K2O, and Na2O whereas
alkaline basalts form by partial melting of peridotite
richer in CO2, TiO2, and P2O 5
Cont…
4. Mechanisms involving differentiation or fractional
crystallisation
- Higher pressure fractionation of basalt formed by
partial melting in the mantle could give alkaline
basalt, whereas lower-pressure fractionation of the
same basalt could give tholeiitic magma
- Partial melting at a depth of about 60km could give
alkali basalt. Partial crystallisation at a depth of about
40km could produce transitional basalt
- Partial melting of peridotite and leaching of
Cont…
Wall rocks during ascent of the magma could form
alkali basalt
- limited partial melting of garnet peridotite
could produce alkali basalt and more extensive
melting give tholeiitic basalt
- Incipient melting of heated mantle wall rocks
produced early alkalic melts; later melting could
produce tholeiitic melts; stagnation as the volcano
moved off the hot spot and a decrease in melting of
the wall rocks would form the latest alkalic basalts
Cont…
• -Separation of high Mg olivine and pyroxene at a
depth of 15 to 35 km could form high Al basalt
• 5. Mechanisms involving a particular
tectonic environment
• -Basaltic melt from a deep mantle plume
accumulates at the base of the lithosphere.
• Magma at the base of the lithospheric plate finds
access to the surface along zones of crustal
weakness
Cont….
- Alkali basalts volcanism may be associated with
the lateral edge of a subducting lithosphere plate.
- Tholeiitic and transitional basalts such as those
formed at a mid-oceanic ridge could originate by
partial melting at modest pressures below about 8 to
10 kbars or depths of 30 to 35 km.
 Deccan Traps
 The Deccan Traps are a large igneous province
located on the Deccan Plateau of west-central India
and one of the largest volcanic features on Earth
 They consist of multiple layers of solidified flood
basalt that together are more than 2,000m thick and
cover an area of 500,000 km2 and a volume of
512,000 km3
 The basalt flows are generally massive, compact
and coarse grained in central part but become fine
grained near top and bottom parts
Cont…
 Within the Deccan Traps at least 95% of the lavas
are tholeiitic basalts, however other rock types like
Alkali basalts, Nephelinites, Lamprophyre,
Carbonatites also occur.
 Mantle xenoliths have been described
from Kutch (northwestern India) and elsewhere
in the western Deccan.
Cont…
 The Deccan Traps eruption was associated with a
deep mantle plume.
 The area of long-term eruption known as
the Reunioun hotspot, is suspected of both causing
the Deccan Traps eruption and opening the rift
that once separated the Seychelles plateau from
India.
 The basalt deposits in the Seychelles are from
the Deccan Traps eruption, which occurred in the
central part of the Indian sub-continent 65 million
years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period
Reunion hotspot
Pillow lava Columnar jointing at
St.Mary’s island
The Deccan Traps at Mahabaleshwar.These comprise multiple layers of flood
basalt, over a mile deep, the result of massive volcanic activity at the K/T
boundary. Some regard this as the cause of the extinction event
Lonar lake in Maharashtra
 Economic importance
 Flood basalts are known to host important
deposits of native copper and platinoids
 Bauxite cappings over Deccan Trap as in
Belgaum are useful as aluminium ore
 Natural zeolites filling the cavities in volcanics
are useful as gemstones and have industrial and
agricultural applications

used in construction as building blocks or in
the groundwork, making cobblestones (from
columnar basalt) and in making statues. Heating
and extruding basalt yields stone wool, an
excellent thermal insulator
Conclusion
 Basalt is a common extrusive igneous rock formed
from the rapid cooling of basaltic lava exposed at or
very near the surface.
 It is an aphanitic igneous rock
 tholeiitic, transitional and alkali basalts are the three
important types of basalts
Cont….
 It is formed by fractional crystallisation
along different paths

Seafloor spreading at the boundary
between the Indian and African Plates
subsequently pushed India towards north,
which now lies under Reunion island in the
Indian Ocean, southwest of India
 Important texture present in basalt is

called amygdaloidal texture