Oolite

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Oolite or oÃƒÆ'Ã‚Â¶lite ( an egg stone ) is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, a round grain consisting of a concentric layer. This name is derived from the ancient Greek word ??? for eggs. Strictly speaking, oolit consists of 0.25-2 millimeter diameter ooids; rocks consisting of ooids larger than 2 mm are called pisolites. The term oolith may refer to individual oolit or ooids.

Video Oolite

Composition

Oxygen most often consists of calcium carbonate (calcite or aragonite), but may consist of phosphate, clay, chert, dolomite or iron minerals, including hematite. Dolomitic and chert ooids are likely to result from replacing the original texture in limestone. Hematite Oolitik occurs in the Red Mountain near Birmingham, Alabama, along with oolithic limestone.

They are usually formed in warm, super-saturated, shallow, super-saturated sea intertidal environments, although some form in inland lakes. The formation mechanism begins with small pieces of sediment that act as 'seed', eg. a piece of shell. Strong intertidal currents wash 'seeds' around on the seafloor, where they collect a layer of calcite deposited chemically from water saturated. The oolit is commonly found in today's large bed structures that resemble dunes. The size of the oolit reflects the time that has been exposed to the water before they are covered with the next precipitate.

Oolit is often used in the home aquarium industry because their small grain size (0.2 to 1.22 mm) is ideal for shallow static beds and bottom coverings up to 1 "in depth.Also known as" oolitic "sand, sugar round grain sizes this sand passes easily through the gill of gobies and other sand contents organisms. Importantly, this extraordinarily fine sand promotes bacterial growth, which is an important biofilter in home aquariums. Because of its very small grain size, the oolitic sand has many surface areas, which promote high bacterial growth.

Maps Oolite

Genesis

Some examples of oolitic limestone formed in England during the Jurassic period, and formed the Cotswold Hills, the Isle of Portland with the famous Portland Stone, and part of the North Yorkshire Moors. A special type, Bath Stone, gives buildings from the World Heritage City Bath their distinctive appearance. The Carbon Bay Oolite hunt lies below much of south Wales.

The Lower Key Islands in the Florida Keys, as well as some island barrier east of Miami bordering the Bay of Biscayne, especially the oolitic limestone, are formed by deposition when shallow seas cover the area between glacial periods. The material is consolidated and eroded during later exposure above sea level.

One of the largest freshwater oolits in the world is Shoofly Oolit, part of the Glenns Ferry Formation in the Snake River Plains of southwestern Idaho. 10 million years ago, Plain formed the base of Idaho Lake. Waves of action in the lake were washed sediments back and forth in shallow water on the southwest coast, forming water and depositing them on a steep bench near the coast with a thickness of 2 to 40 feet. As the lake dries (2 to 4 million years ago), ooliths are left behind, along with rocks, volcanic tuffs and alluvium from adjacent mountain slopes. Other sediments are eroding, while more weather-resistant oolites engulf lumps, small arches and other interesting "sculptures". The Shoofly Oolite is located on a public land in west Bruneau, Idaho is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The physical and chemical properties of Shoofly Oolite are arrangements for a series of rare plants, which BLM protects through land use management and on-site interpretation.

This type of limestone is also found in Indiana in the United States. The town of Oolitic, Indiana, was established for the trade of limestone and bears its name. Quarries at Oolitic, Bedford, and Bloomington donated material for US iconic landmarks such as the Empire State Building in New York and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Many buildings on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington are built with original oolitic limestone, and Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, built primarily of gray oolitic limestone.

Oolites also appear in the Conococheague limestone, Cambrian age, the Great Appalachian Valley in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia.

Rogenstein is a term that describes a special type of oolite in which cementing matter is argillaceous.