Psammite (Greek: psammitēs "(made) from sand", from psammos "sand") is a general term for sandstone. It is equivalent to the Latin-derived term arenite and is commonly used in various publications to describe a metamorphosed sedimentary rock with a dominantly sandstone protolith. In Europe, this term was formerly used for a fine-grained, fissile, clayey sandstone. Pettijohn gives the following descriptive terms based on grain size, avoiding the use of terms such as "clay" or "argillaceous", which carry an implication of chemical composition:
| Texture | Common | Greek | Latin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coarse | gravel(ly) | psephite (psephitic) | rudite (rudaceous) |
| Medium | sand(y) | psammite (psammitic) | arenite (arenaceous) |
| Fine | clay(ey) | pelite (pelitic) | lutite (lutaceous) |
References
- ψαμμίτης, ψάμμος. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
- U.S. Bureau of Mines Staff (1996) Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, & Related Terms. Report SP-96-1, U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Bureau of Mines, Washington, D.C.
- ^ Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. Jackson, J.A., eds. (2005) Glossary of Geology (5th ed.). Alexandria, Virginia, American Geological Institute, Washington, DC 779 pp.
- Tyrell, G. W. (1921) Some points in petrographic nomenclature. Geological Magazine. v. 58, no. 11, pp. 494–502.
- Pettijohn F. J. (1975), Sedimentary Rocks, Harper & Row, ISBN 0-06-045191-2
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