R E S E A R C H P A P E R

rocks
B Y J O H N C A R L S E N C I N A
 STRATIFIED ROCKS

SANDSTONE

GEOLOGY
GEOLOGY

DESCRIPTION SANDSTONE
GEOLOGY
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock made from
M ost sandstone is composed of
sediment particles (clasts) of minerals and
quartz and/or feldspar because these
fragments of rock. More precisely, sand is
are the most common minerals in
between 1/16 millimeter and 2 mm in size
the Earth's crust.Sandstone can
(silt is finer and gravel is coarser).
range from thinly stratified fine-
grained "muddy" sandstones to
cross-stratified medium-grained
sandstones to nonstratified. Like
sand, sandstone may be any colour,
but the most common colours are
tan, brown, yellow, red (hematite),
gray (calcite), pink, white (quartz)
and black (pyrite).

Sandstone has two different

kinds of material in it besides the
sediment particles: matrix and
cement. Matrix is the fine-grained
stuff (silt and clay size) that was in
LOCATION
the sediment along with the sand
whereas cement is the mineral
matter, introduced later, that binds
the sediment into rock. Sandstone
WHERE TO FIND SANDSTONE?
with a lot of matrix is called poorly
sorted. If matrix amounts to more Australia too has large deposits of
S andstone is a very common mineral
than 10 percent of the rock, it is sandstone. Gosford Quarries prides itself
and can be found all over the world. There
called a wacke ("wacky"). A well- on extracting the highest quality natural
are large deposits found in the United
sorted sandstone (little matrix) with sandstone. We boast the largest variety of
States, South Africa (where eight different
little cement is called an arenite. colours and textures. Our passion for
varieties of the stone can be found), and
Another way to look at it is that producing fine quality sandstone stems
Germany holds the most locations of
wacke is dirty and arenite is clean. from the enjoyment people get from this
sandstone deposits in the world.
stunning rock.

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GEOLOGY
DESCRIPTION
L imestone is by definition a rock
that contains at least 50% calcium
carbonate in the form of calcite by
weight. All limestones contain at
least a few percent other materials.
These can be small particles of
quartz, feldspar, clay minerals, pyrite,
siderite, and other minerals. It can
also contain large nodules of chert,
pyrite, or siderite.The calcium
carbonate content of limestone
gives it a property that is often used
in rock identification - it effervesces
in contact with a cold solution of 5%
hydrochloric acid.
Limestone is a rock with an
enormous diversity of uses. Most
limestone is made into crushed
stone and used as a construction
material. It is used as a crushed
stone for road base and railroad
ballast. It is used as an aggregate in
concrete. It is fired in a kiln with
crushed shale to make cement.
Some varieties of limestone perform
well in these uses because they are
strong, dense rocks with few pore
spaces. These properties enable
them to stand up well to abrasion
and freeze-thaw.
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STRATIFIED ROCKS
LIMESTONE
GEOLOGY
LIMESTONE
GEOLOGY
L imestone is a sedimentary rock composed primarily of
calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the form of the mineral
calcite. It most commonly forms in clear, warm, shallow
marine waters. It is usually an organic sedimentary rock
that forms from the accumulation of shell, coral, algal,
and fecal debris. It can also be a chemical sedimentary
rock formed by the precipitation of calcium carbonate
from lake or ocean water.
LOCATION
WHERE TO FIND LIMESTONE?
One of these areas is the Bahamas
Today Earth has many limestone-forming
Platform, located in the Atlantic Ocean
environments. Most of them are found in
about 100 miles southeast of southern
shallow water areas between 30 degrees
Florida (see satellite image). There,
north latitude and 30 degrees south
abundant corals, shellfish, algae, and other
latitude. Limestone is forming in the
organisms produce vast amounts of
Caribbean Sea, Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf,
calcium carbonate skeletal debris that
Gulf of Mexico, around Pacific Ocean
completely blankets the platform. This is
islands, and within the Indonesian
producing an extensive limestone deposit.
archipelago.
 STRATIFIED ROCKS

SHALE

GEOLOGY
GEOLOGY

DESCRIPTION SHALE GEOLOGY

Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock that forms from
S hale is a rock composed mainly the compaction of silt and clay-size mineral particles
of clay-size mineral grains. These tiny that we commonly call "mud." This composition places
grains are usually clay minerals such shale in a category of sedimentary rocks known as
as illite, kaolinite, and smectite. "mudstones." Shale is distinguished from other
Shale usually contains other clay-size mudstones because it is fissile and laminated.
mineral particles such as quartz, "Laminated" means that the rock is made up of many
chert, and feldspar. Other thin layers. "Fissile" means that the rock readily splits
constituents might include organic into thin pieces along the laminations.
particles, carbonate minerals, iron
oxide minerals, sulfide minerals, and
heavy mineral grains. These "other
constituents" in the rock are often
determined by the shale's
environment of deposition, and they
often determine the color of the
rock.
Some shales have special properties
that make them important
resources. Black shales contain
organic material that sometimes
breaks down to form natural gas or
oil. Other shales can be crushed and LOCATION
mixed with water to produce clays
that can be made into a variety of
useful objects. WHERE TO FIND SHALE?
Shale breaks into thin pieces with S hales are often found with layers of Shales are commercially important, having
sharp edges. It occurs in a wide sandstone or limestone. They typically many applications in the ceramics industry
range of colors that include red, form in environments where muds, silts, in particular. They are a valuable raw
brown, green, gray, and black. It is and other sediments were deposited by material for tile, brick, and pottery and
the most common sedimentary rock gentle transporting currents and became constitute a major source of alumina for
and is found in sedimentary basins compacted, as, for example, the deep- Portland cement. In addition, advances in
worldwide. ocean floor, basins of shallow seas, river recovery methods may one day make oil
floodplains, and playas. Most shales occur shale a practical source for liquid
in extensive sheets several metres thick, petroleum.
though some develop in lenticular
formations.
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 UNSTRATIFIED ROCKS

GRANITE

GEOLOGY
GEOLOGY

DESCRIPTION GRANITE GEOLOGY

G ranite is a light-colored igneous rock with grains large
G ranite is the best-known igneous enough to be visible with the unaided eye. It forms
rock. Many people recognize granite from the slow crystallization of magma below Earth's
because it is the most common surface. Granite is composed mainly of quartz and
igneous rock found at Earth's surface feldspar with minor amounts of mica, amphiboles, and
and because granite is used to make other minerals. This mineral composition usually gives
many objects that we encounter in granite a red, pink, gray, or white color with dark
daily life. These include counter tops, mineral grains visible throughout the rock.
floor tiles, paving stone, curbing, stair
treads, building veneer, and
cemetery monuments. Granite is
used all around us - especially if you
live in a city.
Granite is a coarse-grained, light-
colored igneous rock composed
mainly of feldspars and quartz with
minor amounts of mica and
amphibole minerals.
Granite is a plutonic rock in which
quartz makes up between 10 and 50
percent of the felsic components
and alkali feldspar accounts for 65 to
90 percent of the total feldspar LOCATION
content.
The word "granite" is used by people
who sell and purchase cut stone for WHERE TO FIND GRANITE?
structural and decorative use. These
"granites" are used to make M ost introductory geology textbooks Granite is also well known from its many
countertops, floor tiles, curbing, report that granite is the most abundant world-famous natural exposures. These
building veneer, monuments, and rock in the continental crust. At the include: Stone Mountain, Georgia;
many other products. surface, granite is exposed in the cores of Yosemite Valley, California; Mount
many mountain ranges within large areas Rushmore, South Dakota; Pike's Peak,
known as "batholiths," and in the core Colorado; and White Mountains, New
areas of continents known as "shields." Hampshire. Rock & Mineral Kits: Get a rock,
mineral, or fossil kit to learn more about
Earth materials. The best way to learn
about rocks is to have specimens available
for testing and examination.
ROCKS | BY ENCINA |
 UNSTRATIFIED ROCKS

BASALT

GEOLOGY
GEOLOGY

DESCRIPTION BASALT GEOLOGY

Basalt is a dark-colored, fine-grained, igneous rock
B asalt underlies more of Earth's composed mainly of plagioclase and pyroxene
surface than any other rock type. minerals. It most commonly forms as an extrusive rock,
Most areas within Earth's ocean such as a lava flow, but can also form in small intrusive
basins are underlain by basalt. bodies, such as an igneous dike or a thin sill. It has a
Although basalt is much less composition similar to gabbro. The difference between
common on continents, lava flows basalt and gabbro is that basalt is a fine-grained rock
and flood basalts underlie several while gabbro is a coarse-grained rock.
percent of Earth's land surface.
Basalt is a very important rock.

Basalt is also an abundant rock on

the Moon. These areas of the Moon
are known as "lunar maria." Large
areas of the Moon have been
resurfaced by extensive basalt flows
which may have been triggered by
major impact events. The ages of
lunar maria can be estimated by
observing the density of impact
craters on their surface. Younger
basalt flows will have fewer craters.
LOCATION

WHERE TO FIND BASALT?

Basalt is used for a wide variety of
purposes. It is most commonly
crushed for use as an aggregate in
construction projects. Crushed basalt
is used for road base, concrete
aggregate, asphalt pavement
aggregate, railroad ballast, filter
stone in drain fields, and may other
purposes. Basalt is also cut into
dimension stone. Thin slabs of basalt
are cut and sometimes polished for
use as floor tiles, building veneer,
monuments, and other stone
objects.
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M ost of the basalt found on Earth was
produced in just three rock-forming
environments:
1) oceanic divergent boundaries,
2) oceanic hotspots, and
3) mantle plumes and hotspots beneath
continents.
Convection currents deliver hot rock from
deep in the mantle. This hot rock melts as
the divergent boundary pulls apart, and
the molten rock erupts onto the sea floor.
Basalt production at these locations begins with
an eruption on the ocean floor. If the hotspot is
sustained, repeated eruptions can build the
volcanic cone larger and larger until it becomes
high enough to become an island. All of the
islands in the Hawaiian Island chain were built up
from basalt eruptions on the sea floor.
The third basalt-forming environment is a
continental environment where a mantle plume
or hotspot delivers enormous amounts of basaltic
lava through the continental crust and up to
Earth's surface. These eruptions can be from
either vents or fissures.
 FOLIATED ROCKS

GNEISS

GEOLOGY
GEOLOGY

DESCRIPTION GNEISS GEOLOGY

Gneiss is a foliated metamorphic rock identified by its
G neiss, metamorphic rock that bands and lenses of varying composition, while other
has a distinct banding, which is bands contain granular minerals with an interlocking
apparent in hand specimen or on a texture. Other bands contain platy or elongate minerals
microscopic scale. Gneiss usually is with evidence of preferred orientation. It is this banded
distinguished from schist by its appearance and texture - rather than composition -
foliation and schistosity; gneiss that define a gneiss.
displays a well-developed foliation
and a poorly developed schistosity
and cleavage. For the casual student,
it is convenient to think of a gneiss
as a rock with parallel, somewhat
irregular banding which has little
tendency to split along planes. In
contrast, schist typically is composed
of platy minerals with a parallel to
subparallel geometric orientation
that gives the rock a tendency to
split along planes; banding is usually
not present.
Gneiss is medium- to coarse-grained
and may contain abundant quartz
and feldspar, which some LOCATION

WHERE TO FIND GNEISS?

petrographers regard as essential
components. The banding is usually
due to the presence of differing
proportions of minerals in the
various bands.
G neiss is typically associated with major
mountain building episodes. During these
episodes, sedimentary or felsic igneous
rocks are subjected to great pressures and
temperatures generated by great depth of
burial, proximity to igneous intrusions and
the tectonic forces generated during such
episodes.
Gneisses from western Greenland comprise the
oldest crustal rocks known (more than 3.5 billion
years old). Gneiss is an old German word
meaning bright or sparkling.
Gneisses result from the metamorphism of
many igneous or sedimentary rocks, and are the
most common types of rocks found in
Precambrian regions. Gneiss is found in New
England, the Piedmont, the Adirondacks, and
the Rocky Mts. Some gneisses are used as facing
stone on buildings.

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 FOLIATED ROCKS

SCHIST

GEOLOGY
GEOLOGY

DESCRIPTION SCHIST GEOLOGY

S chist is a foliated metamorphic rock made up of plate-
T his metamorphic environment is shaped mineral grains that are large enough to see
intense enough to convert the clay with an unaided eye. It usually forms on a continental
minerals of the sedimentary rocks side of a convergent plate boundary where
into platy metamorphic minerals sedimentary rocks, such as shales and mudstones, have
such as muscovite, biotite, and been subjected to compressive forces, heat, and
chlorite. To become schist, a shale chemical activity.
must be metamorphosed in steps
through slate and then through
phyllite. If the schist is
metamorphosed further, it might
become a granular rock known as
gneiss.A rock does not need a
specific mineral composition to be
called “schist.” It only needs to
contain enough platy metamorphic
minerals in alignment to exhibit
distinct foliation. This texture allows
the rock to be broken into thin slabs
along the alignment direction of the
platy mineral grains. This type of
breakage is known as schistosity.
LOCATION

WHERE TO FIND SCHIST?

S chists are mostly the precambrian ages rocks. It usually occurs the regional
metamorphism of existing rock. These are usually sedimentary or simetimes
igneous rocks. It could therefore be found where eroded mountains reveal the
rock, or in areas of glacial deposition of eroded schist.

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 ARGILLACEOUS ROCKS

SLATE

GEOLOGY
GEOLOGY

SLATE GEOLOGY
DESCRIPTION S late is a fine-grained, foliated metamorphic rock this is
created via the alteration of shale or mudstone by
means of low-grade local metamorphism. It is famous
S late is particularly composed of
the minerals quartz and muscovite for a extensive form of makes use of such as roofing,

or illite, frequently along with biotite, floors, and flagging due to its sturdiness and appealing

chlorite, hematite, and pyrite and, look.

less regularly apatite, graphite,

kaolinite, magnetite, tourmaline, or
zircon as well as feldspar.
Occasionally, as within the pink
slates of North Wales, ferrous
discount spheres form around iron
nuclei, leaving a mild green noticed
texture. These spheres are once in a
while deformed by a next carried out
pressure discipline to ovoids, which
appear as ellipses while viewed on a
cleavage plane of the specimen.

Shale is deposited in a sedimentary

basin where finer particles are
transported by wind or water. These
LOCATION
deposited fine grains are then
compacted and lithified. Tectonic
environments for producing slates WHERE TO FIND SLATE?
are when this basin is involved in a
I n Europe, most slate is mined in Spain. It is also mined in the United Kingdom, and
convergent plate boundaries. The
parts of France, Italy, and Portugal. Brazil is the second-biggest producer of slate. In the
shale and mudstone in the basin is
Americas, it’s also found in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, Maine, and
compressed by horizontal forces
Virginia. China, Australia, and the Arctic also have large reserves of slate.
with minor heating. These forces and
heat modify the clay minerals.
Foliation develops at right angles to
the compressive forces of the
convergent plate boundaries.

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 ARGILLACEOUS ROCKS

LATERITE

GEOLOGY
GEOLOGY

LATERITE GEOLOGY
DESCRIPTION L aterite, soil layer that is rich in iron oxide and derived
from a wide variety of rocks weathering under strongly
T ypical laterite is porous and oxidizing and leaching conditions. It forms in tropical
claylike. It contains the iron oxide and subtropical regions where the climate is humid.
minerals goethite, HFeO2; Lateritic soils may contain clay minerals; but they tend
lepidocrocite, FeO(OH); and to be silica-poor, for silica is leached out by waters
hematite, Fe2O3. It also contains passing through the soil.
titanium oxides and hydrated oxides
of aluminum, the most common
and abundant of which is gibbsite,
Al2O3·3H2O. The aluminum-rich
representative of laterite is bauxite.
Laterite is frequently pisolitic
(pealike). Exposed surfaces are
blackish-brown to reddish and
commonly have a slaggy, or
scoriaceous, lavalike appearance.
Commonly lighter in colour (red,
yellow, and brown) where freshly
broken, it is generally soft when
freshly quarried but hardens on
exposure.
Laterite is not uniquely identified LOCATION
with any particular parent rock,
geologic age, single method of
formation, climate per se, or
WHERE TO FIND LATERITE?
geographic location. It is a rock S ome of the oldest and most highly deformed ultramafic rocks which underwent
product that is a response to a set of laterization are found in the complex Precambrian shields in Brazil and Australia.

physiochemical conditions, which Smaller highly deformed Alpine-type intrusives have formed laterite profiles in

include an iron-containing parent Guatemala, Colombia, Central Europe, India and Burma. Large thrust sheets of Mesozoic

rock, a well-drained terrain, island arcs and continental collision zones underwent laterization in New Caledonia,

abundant moisture for hydrolysis Cuba, Indonesia and the Philippines. Laterites reflect past weathering conditions;

during weathering, relatively high laterites which are found in present-day non-tropical areas are products of former

oxidation potential, and persistence geological epochs, when that area was near the equator. Present-day laterite occurring

of these conditions over thousands outside the humid tropics are considered to be indicators of climatic change,

of years. continental drift or a combination of both.

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 CALCAREOUS ROCKS

MARBLE

GEOLOGY
GEOLOGY

MARBLE GEOLOGY
DESCRIPTION Marble is a metamorphic rock that forms when
limestone is subjected to the heat and pressure of
U nder the conditions of metamorphism. It is composed primarily of the mineral
metamorphism, the calcite in the calcite (CaCO3) and usually contains other minerals,
limestone recrystallizes to form a such as clay minerals, micas, quartz, pyrite, iron oxides,
rock that is a mass of interlocking and graphite.
calcite crystals. A related rock,
dolomitic marble, is produced when
dolostone is subjected to heat and
pressure.

Marble is a rock on account of

metamorphism of sedimentary
carbonate rocks, maximum normally
limestone or dolomite rock.
Metamorphism causes variable
recrystallization of the unique
carbonate mineral grains. The
ensuing this rock is typically
composed of an interlocking mosaic
of carbonate crystals. Primary
sedimentary textures and structures
of the unique carbonate rock LOCATION
(protolith) have typically been
changed or destroyed. WHERE TO FIND MARBLE?
M arble deposits can be found in various countries around the globe. Such European
countries as Italy, Ireland, Spain, Greece, Russia, Romania, Sweden, and Germany, in
addition to others in Asia, are among the globe’s leading producers of this valuable rock.
The United States of America is also a high level Marble producer, with states such as
Alabama and Texas having especially large deposits to be found within their borders. It
is, however, Italy, China, India, and Spain who dominate global Marble production.

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GEOLOGY
DESCRIPTION
D olomite is the main constituent
in dolomite rocks and dolomitic
marbles. It occurs as a replacement
deposit in limestone affected by
magnesium-bearing solutions, in talc
schists, and in other magnesium-rich
metamorphic rocks. Dolomite is
found in hydrothermal veins
associated with lead, zinc, and
copper ores. It is also found in
altered, silica-poor igneous rocks, in
some carbonatites, and in
serpentinites. Crystals of dolomite
frequently form in cavities in
limestone and marble.
Formed by diagenesis or
hydrothermal metasomatism of
limestone; a primary phase in
hypersaline sedimentary
environments; a major component
of some contact metamorphic rocks
and marbles; a gangue in
hydrothermal veins; in carbonatites
and ultramafic rocks.
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CALCAREOUS ROCKS
DOLOMITE
GEOLOGY
DOLOMITE GEOLOGY
I s an important rock-forming mineral that named is
French mineralogist Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu. It is a
colorless to white, pale brown, grayish, reddish, or pink
mineral. Its crystals are commonly rhombohedral or
tabular, often have curved faces, and sometimes cluster
in saddle-shaped aggregates. Dolomite may be striated
horizontally and twinned. Some crystals may be up to 2
in (5 cm) long. It can also be coarse to fine granular,
massive, and, rarely, fibrous.
LOCATION
WHERE TO FIND DOLOMITE?
A major rock-forming mineral, abundant worldwide with numerous commercial uses.
Some localities for fine examples include:In Italy, from Traversella and Brosso,
Piedmont.Exceptional crystals from Eugui, Navarra Province, Spain.At Trieben and Hall,
Tirol, Austria. From Freiberg and Schneeberg, Saxony, Germany.At Lengenbach, Binntal,
Switzerland. From Trepca, Serbia, Yugoslavia. At Frizington, Cumbria, England.In the
Vuoriyarvi carbonatite complex, Kola Peninsula, Russia.Fine crystals from Brumado,
Bahia, and in the Morro Velho gold mine, Nova Lima, Minas Gerais, Brazil.At Naica,
Chihuahua, Mexico.In the USA, in New York, from Lockport, Niagara Co., eastward to
Walworth, Wayne Co.; at Stony Point, Alexander Co., North Carolina; in the Mississippi
Valley region, in the Tri-State district, at Joplin, Jasper Co., Missouri; Galena, Cherokee Co.,
Kansas; and Picher, Ottawa Co., Oklahoma.
 SILICEOUS ROCKS

CHERT

GEOLOGY
GEOLOGY

CHERT GEOLOGY
DESCRIPTION C hert is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of
quartz (SiO2) that is microcrystalline or
C hert is in most cases a biogenic cryptocrystalline quartz. It is usually organic rock but
rock, it is made of siliceous tests of also occur inorganically as a chemical precipitate or a
diatoms, radiolarians, siliceous diagenetic replacement. It occurs as nodules,
sponge spicules, etc. Sometimes concretionary masses, and as layered deposits.
microscopic fossilized remains of
these sea creatures may be
preserved in these rocks. Their
siliceous tests are not made of
quartz initially, but after burial,
compaction, and diagenesis, opaline
siliceous sediments transform to
quartz. Although the material it is
made of ultimately came from
siliceous tests of marine species, the
rock itself is often not deposited in
situ. It may move as a silica-rich
liquid and form nodules in rocks by
replacing the original (usually
carbonate) material. So It is also
sometimes said to be a rock of
chemogenic origin. Bedded variety LOCATION
seems to be often associated with
turbidity currents.
Chert breaks with a conchoidal
WHERE TO FIND CHERT?
fracture, often producing very sharp B edded cherts may form by compaction and recrystallization of silica-rich biogenic
edges. Early people took advantage sediments made of opaline tests of single-cell organisms (diatoms, radiolaria) or remains

of how chert breaks and used it to of silicious sponges, both in marine and in lake environments.

fashion cutting tools and weapons. Oldershaw 1968; Calvert 1971; Lancelot 1973; Hein et al 1981; Pisciotto 1981; Riech 1981;

"Chert" and "flint" are names used for Levitan 1983; Jones et al 1986; Compton 1991; Calvert 1971; Thurston 1972; Pollock 1987;

the same material. Both are varieties Hesse 1989; Sugitani et al 1998; Rosière et al 2000; Maliva et al 2005; Fisher et al 2008;

of chalcedony. Knauth 1994; Buurman et al 1971; Meyers 1977; Bustillo et al 1987; Maliva et al 1989; Knauth
1994; Madsen et al 2010
Magadi-type cherts, named after their occurrence at Lake Magadi, Kenya, form by
leaching of alkali ions from silicates in silica-rich evaporites (Hay 1968; Eugster 1969).

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 SILICEOUS ROCKS

QUARTZITE

GEOLOGY
GEOLOGY

QUARTZITE GEOLOGY
DESCRIPTION Q uartzite is a nonfoliated metamorphic rock composed
almost entirely of quartz. It forms when a quartz-rich
W hen sandstone is cemented to sandstone is altered by the heat, pressure, and
quartzite, the character quartz grains chemical activity of metamorphism. These conditions
recrystallize along with the former recrystallize the sand grains and the silica cement that
cementing cloth to form an binds them together. The result is a network of
interlocking mosaic of quartz interlocking quartz grains of incredible strength.
crystals.Most or all of the unique
texture and sedimentary structures
of the sandstone are erased through
the metamorphism. The grainy,
sandpaper-like surface turns into
glassy in look.Minor amounts of
former cementing substances, iron
oxide, silica, carbonate and clay,
often migrate during recrystallization
and metamorphosis. This causes
streaks and lenses to shape in the
quartzite.

Quartzite is metamorphosed
sandstone. It is dominated by quartz,
and in many cases, the original
quartz grains of the sandstone are
welded together with additional
silica. Most sandstone contains some
clay minerals and may also include
other minerals such as feldspar or
fragments of rock, so most quartzite
has some impurities with the quartz.
LOCATION
WHERE TO FIND QUARTZITE?
I n the United States, formations of quartzite can be found in some parts of
Pennsylvania, the Washington DC area, eastern South Dakota, Central Texas, southwest
Minnesota, Devil’s Lake State Park in the Baraboo Range in Wisconsin, the Wasatch
Range in Utah near Salt Lake City, Utah
In the United Kingdom, Cambrian “Hartshill quartzite” (Nuneaton area In Wales,
Holyhead mountain and most of Holy island off Anglesey sport excellent Precambrian
quartzite crags and cliffs. In the Scottish Highlands, several mountains composed of
Cambrian quartzite can be found in the far north-west
In continental Europe, various regionally isolated quartzite deposits exist at surface level
in a belt from the Rhenish Massif and the German Central Highlands into the Western
Czech Republic, for example in the Taunus and Harz mountains. In Poland quartzite
deposits at surface level exists in Świętokrzyskie Mountains.

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