Cementation (geology) - Types of Carbonate Cement

Types of Carbonate Cement

Beachrock is a type of carbonate beach sand that has been cemented together by a process called synsedimentary cementation. Beachrock may contain meniscus cements or pendant cements. As the water between the narrow spaces of grains drains from the beachrock, a small portion of it is held back by capillary forces, where meniscus cement will form. Pendant cements form on the bottom of grains where water droplets are held.

Hardgrounds are hard crusts of carbonate material that form on the bottom of the ocean floor, below the lowest tide level. Isopachous (which means equal thickness) cement forms in subaqueous conditions where the grains are completely surrounded by water (Boggs, 2006).

Carbonate cements can also be formed by biological organisms such as Sporosarcina pasteurii, which binds sand together given organic compounds and a calcium source.

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