Limestone

Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions.

Limestone is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Limestone forms when these minerals precipitate out of water containing dissolved calcium. This can take place through both biological and nonbiological processes, though biological processes, such as the accumulation of corals and shells in the sea, have likely been more important for the last 540 million years. Limestone often contains fossils which provide scientists with informa

chemical compound

Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scratch hardness comparison. Large calcite crystals are used in optical equipment, and limestone composed mostly of calcite has numerous uses.

chemical compound

calcium oxide or hydroxide

alt=|thumb|Marl thumb|Scala dei Turchi coastal marl formation, southern [[Sicily]]

thumb|upright=1.6|Travertine terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs, [[Yellowstone National Park, in 2016]]

Comblanchien () is a commune just to the south of Nuits-Saint-Georges in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France.

binder used as basic ingredient of concrete

natural karst landform consisting of a flat, incised surface of exposed limestone

water that has a high mineral content

thumb|upright=1.4|Cave labeled with the six most common types of speleothems: flowstone, columns, drapery, [[stalagmites, stalactites and straws]] A speleothem (; ) is a geological formation made by mineral deposits that accumulate over time in natural caves. They can take a variety of forms, depending on their depositional history and environment. Common forms include stalagmites, stalactites, and flowstones.

thumb|Modern ooids from a beach on Joulter Cays, The Bahamas, with 0.5 mm scale thumb|right|Ooids on the surface of a limestone; Carmel Formation (Middle Jurassic) of southern Utah thumb|right|Thin-section of calcitic ooids from an oolite within the Carmel Formation (Middle [[Jurassic) of southern Utah]]

thumb|Limescale build-up inside a pipe reduces both liquid flow through the pipe and thermal conduction from the liquid to the outer pipe shell. Both effects will reduce the pipe's overall thermal efficiency when used as a heat exchanger.

main component of Portland cement (CEM I)

Carboniferous limestone in Blarney Castle, Ireland, associated with the legend that kissing it endows one with the skill of speaking eloquently

species of mammal

limestone quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England

rock

thumb|Modern ooids from a beach on Joulter Cays, The Bahamas. thumb|Ooids on the surface of limestone; Carmel Formation (Middle [[Jurassic) of southern Utah, USA.]] thumb|A thin slice of calcitic ooids from the Carmel Formation, Middle Jurassic, of southern Utah, USA.

right|upright=1.35|300px|thumb|Caliche Petrified wood|fossil forest on [[San Miguel Island, California]]

The Muschelkalk (German for "shell-bearing limestone", ) is a sequence of sedimentary rock strata (a lithostratigraphic unit) in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic (240 to 230 million years) age and forms the middle part of the three-part Germanic Trias (that gives the Triassic its name) lying above the older Buntsandstein and below the younger Keuper. The Muschelkalk ("mussel-chalk") consists of a sequence of limestone and dolomite beds.

range of stepped travertine terraces and springs in Sari County, Iran

upright=1.35|thumb|right|Stylolites in limestone

thumb|250px|The Pietra di Bismantova in the northern Apennine (Emilia Romagna region, northern Italy) is an example of calcarenite formation.

300px|thumb|Coquina strata from [[Caleta Hornos (Coquimbo Formation)]]

thumb|Beachrock along Réunion island seashore thumb|Detail showing fragments of coral and shells Beachrock is a friable to well-cemented sedimentary rock that consists of a variable mixture of gravel-, sand-, and silt-sized sediment that is cemented with carbonate minerals and has formed along a shoreline. Depending on location, the sediment that is cemented to form beachrock can consist of a variable mixture of shells, coral fragments, rock fragments of different types, and other materials. It can also contain scattered artifacts, pieces of wood, and coconuts. Beachrock typically forms within

variety of limestone rock, named after Verona in northern Italy

group term of limestone from the peninsula Istria

building stone common in and around Jerusalem

oolitic limestone associated with Bath, Somerset, England, UK

thumb|300px|Meleke in the Gerofit Formation (Turonian) near [[Makhtesh Ramon, southern Israel; a type of micrite.]] Micrite is a limestone constituent formed of calcareous particles ranging in diameter up to four μm formed by the recrystallization of lime mud.

kind of limestone or marble that contains light and dark patterns.

type of limestone used for garden building in China

fossiliferous limestone found in the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset

classification system for carbonate sedimentary rocks

yellow Limestone used in constructions

blue grayish limestone found in Belgium, France and Germany

Buechberg (also spelled Buchberg) is an elongated molasse hill in the Swiss canton of Schwyz (March District), located southeast of the Obersee (Lake Zurich). At , its summit is significantly lower than the surrounding mountains of the Appenzell Alps (e.g. Höchhand, Speer, Federispitz) and Schwyzer Alps (e.g. Planggenstock), which are over high.

Anthraconite (also spelled as anthraxonite) or stinkstone is a form of black to grey, bituminous bearing marble, calcite or limestone which produces an unpleasant odour when struck or rubbed. It is also known as pietra fetida. It is thought to have been formed when limestone is deposited under anaerobic conditions. Some anthraconite releases enough petroleum when struck, that it may be lit. At least one locality where it is found is in the vicinity of Traverse City, Michigan.

thumb|right|Holocene eolianite on [[Long Island, Bahamas.]] thumb|Eolianite, Horseshoe Bay, Bermuda

thumb|Fragmented bioclastic wackestone thumb|A Wackestone in thin section (width of image is 10 mm) Under the Dunham classification (Dunham, 1962) system of limestones, a wackestone is defined as a mud-supported carbonate rock that contains greater than 10% grains. Most recently, this definition has been clarified as a carbonate-dominated rock in which the carbonate mud (2 mm).

type of fossil

thumb|Grainstone in the Dunham Classification (Brassfield Formation near Fairborn, Ohio). Grains are [[crinoid fragments.]] Under the Dunham classification (Dunham, 1962)Dunham, R.J. (1962) Classification of carbonate rocks

Rock deformation mechanism involving minerals dissolution under mechanical stress

thumb|300px|Lumachelle samples from the Miocene of [[France, containing abundant bivalve individuals]]

thumb|right|Microbialites in Lake Salda rocks thumb|Emerged microbialite formation at Lake Van, East Anatolia alt=|thumb|right|Classification of microbialites (redrawn and simplified from Schmid, 1996).alt=|thumb|right|Stromatolites – laminated microbialites (Precambrian silicified stromatolite, Strelley Pool Chert, (Pilbara Craton), Western Australia|W. Australia)

highly fossiliferous limestone

Calcilutite (also known as cementstone) is a type of limestone that is composed of predominantly, more than 50 percent, of either clay-size or both silt-size and clay-size detrital (transported) carbonate grains. These grains consist either of fossil fragments, ooids, intraclasts, pellets, other grains, or some combination of them. The term calcilutite was originally proposed in 1903 by Grabau as a part of his calcilutite, calcarenite and calcirudite classification system based upon the size of the detrital grains composing a limestone. In the original classification of limestone according to

thumb|Intraclasts (marked "In") in the Carmel Formation (Middle [[Jurassic) near Gunlock, Utah.]]

hill with distinctive rock formations in New Zealand

thumb|200px|Jerónimos Monastery, in [[Lisbon.]] thumb|200px|Belém Tower, in Lisbon. thumb|200px|Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Salvador, [[Brazil.]]