What minarals are in sedimentary rocks?
There are lots of different types of sedimentary rocks: Gravel, sandstone, shale, limestone, etc. Let’s talk sandstone. Sandstones generally contain small grains of feldspar and quartz. The area between the grains is called porespace and can contain cement (calcium carbonate or silica), clay, water or oil. Other types of grains found in sandstones can be: limestone fragments, metamorphic rock fragments, sandstone fragments, fossils, and other minor constituents such as magnetite, zircon, anhydrite, mica, etc. Gravel is coarser grained than sandstone and usually contains rock fragments eroded from older rocks. Shale is very fined grained and is usually contains clay minerals. Limestones are made up of calcium carbonate (calcite) that is usually formed by marine organisims (corals, shells, etc.).
