Psammite (
Greek: ''psammitēs'' "(made) from sand", from ''psammos'' "sand") is a general term for
sandstone. It is equivalent to the Latin-derived term
arenite
Arenite (Latin: ''arena'', "sand") is a sedimentary clastic rock with sand grain size between 0.0625 mm (0.00246 in) and 2 mm (0.08 in) and contain less than 15% matrix. The related adjective is ''arenaceous''. The equivalent G ...
[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.] and is commonly used in various publications to describe a
metamorphosed
Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causi ...
sedimentary rock with a dominantly sandstone
protolith
A protolith () is the original, unmetamorphosed rock from which a given metamorphic rock is formed.
For example, the protolith of a slate is a shale or mudstone. Metamorphic rocks can be derived from any other kind of non-metamorphic rock and th ...
.
[Tyrell, G. W. (1921) ''Some points in petrographic nomenclature.'' Geological Magazine. v. 58, no. 11, pp. 494–502.] In Europe, this term was formerly used for a fine-grained, fissile, clayey sandstone.
Pettijohn[ Pettijohn F. J. (1975), ''Sedimentary Rocks'', Harper & Row, ] 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:
References
Sandstone
Metasedimentary rocks
Sedimentary rocks
Sand
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