Oolitic limestone

Description

A limestone, or other sedimentary rock, that contains oolites, i.e. rounded calcitic stones. Coarse-grain oolites are about the size of peas and are called pisolites. Fine-grain oolites are about the size of fish roe. Oolites are thought to be the calcified excrement of worms.

Synonyms and Related Terms

eggstone; oolitic freestone; oolitic limestone; Bedford limestone; Shadow Vein; calcaire oolithique (Fr.); calcário oolítico (Port.); Oolithischer Kalkstein (Deut.); oolitische kalksteen (Ned.)

Resources and Citations

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 455

• Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)

• Dictionary of Building Preservation, Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998