5+ Fossiliferous Limestone – All You Need to Know

The word limestone derived from lime means carbonates in terms of chemistry. Stones means solid bonds occur among various non-organic minerals. Thus, limestone has a combination of organic (Carbon-CO2) and minerals (Chiefly Calcium) along with other non-organic ions/minerals.

Infusion of an organic substance with non-organic stuff makes limestone quite different from other natural paving stones found in nature. Unique and different properties of limestone render it as industrially useful natural resources with diverse applications.

Sedimentation:

Now, the question is where and when infusion takes place? In the timeline of Earth, after formation of the core, water has covered the almost entire surface of the Earth.

The evolution of life and living creatures has taken place under the sea water. These living creatures under the water were capable of forming calcium carbonates in different combination and properties.

Formation of Fossils

Thus, calcites & aragonites became primary sources of the skeletons of the living creatures living in the sea and outside the water.

Therefore, right from single to multi-cellular animals, Diatoms to Mollusca, and big fishes have contributed a lot to the formation of limestone.

Fossiliferous Limestone

The mingling of living creatures after their death with non-organic minerals resulted in sedimentary rocks with limestone. The dead living creatures termed as fossils hence rock consist of fossils known as Fossiliferous Limestone.

Fossils are of two types

Macroscopic Size Fossils:

Brachiopods, gastropods, crinoid stems, and hard-shelled Mollusca are forming macroscopic size fossils.

Most of the limestone varieties are made up of the macroscopic size of fossils and forming grains in the rocks when cutting in transverse section.

Microscopic Size Fossils:

Diatoms, single-celled, and two layered multiple celled organisms are forming microscopic size fossils and recognized just as traces of fossils in the limestone.

Granular appearance only possible when a big pool of fossils accumulated at a place/places and deposited/sedimentation occurs.

Classification of Fossiliferous Limestone:

According to geological surveys, nearly 10% of sedimentary rocks are limestone type. Limestone sedimentation occurs in different strata of the earth. Depending upon the depth of sedimentation, limestone can be classified as:

1. Shallow water deposits
2. Deep-sea deposits
3. Evaporative deposits
4. Freshwater deposits
5. Eolian deposits

The formation of different types of limestone depends mostly on the water pressure, temperature, pH, and ion concentration like various conditions/environment in different depth of seawater.

Apart from under the water formation, limestone formation also takes place on territorial surfaces where freshwater is flowing on the surfaces like rivers, streams, and lakes. Freshwater deposits of limestone also happen in the groundwater reservoirs or underground water streams precipitating from the surfaces as well as flowing from one underground reservoir to another.

Grains or Granular Limestone:

Granular design occurs naturally in limestone/calcite, and the primary causes are types of fossils embedded into the limestone during the sedimentation process.

Hydraulic pressure, pH, and temperatures have significant contribution in color, strata, and other properties of limestone.

Non-granular Limestone:

In the absence of fossil embedding in limestone, chemical precipitation of calcites or aragonite occurs. It can happen with deposition of calcite with supersaturated meteoric water, which used to find in caves where groundwater precipitates the minerals.

The shaping of Territorial Fossiliferous Limestone:

They may be crystalline, clastic, granular, and massive. For instance, you may find crystals of calcite, quartz, dolomite or barite in the line of small cavities in the rocks. With the pace of time, these crystals precipitate and form a mineral coating, which are cementing the rock grains.

Colors and textures (Especially weathered surface textures) of limestone depend upon the impurities they contain, such as sand, clay, iron oxide, organic remains, and other materials.

Conclusion:

Where to Get Reliable & High-Quality Supply of Fossiliferous Stones?

It is a natural thing that you may opt for Fossiliferous Limestone for your next construction project or renovating your buildings. Getting reliable, high-quality, and cost-effective supply indeed is daunting whether you live in the USA, UK or India.

By partnering with ‘World of Stones’ you can assure everything perfect. Would you like to talk about your present and future requirements? Contact us.

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