7 Best Travertine Floor Cleaners
Travertine is a form of limestone and is commonly used for flooring, wall cladding, ceiling decoration, driveways, patios, and pool decks. Travertine can last for decades with proper care and maintenance. The most important aspect of travertine maintenance is cleaning. For proper and effective cleaning, you need the right cleaner for travertine floors. You can … Read more
How Can I Fix The Chip In My Granite Countertop? Quick DIY Hack
Granite countertops are the focal point of your kitchen’s design. A chip in them makes them look awful. Why should your countertop look damaged after spending so much time and money? While chips, cracks, and fissures can occur as a result of various activities, the good news is that you can repair them with common … Read more
Does Quartzite Need to Be Sealed & How to Seal it?
Yes. Quartzite requires sealing. Many people confuse quartz with quartzite and don’t seal the latter. However, quartz and quartzite are two different materials. Quartzite is a natural stone, much like marble and granite, and quartz slabs are made from ground quartz and polymer resin, making it less porous and durable than natural stones. Quartzite is … Read more
4-Step Guide to Clean a Limestone Fireplace
Limestone is a common choice for fireplaces due to its durability and heat tolerance. It is mostly used in electric or gas fireplaces. Cleaning a limestone fireplace is critical to ensure proper working and long life. Let’s see how you can clean a limestone fireplace. Step 1: Removing the Dust from a Limestone Fireplace Things … Read more
Basalt Rock Type, Formation, Occurrence & Uses
Basalt belongs to volcanic igneous rocks family. It is a dark-colored (black, dark green or brown) rock with a fine-grained outlook. Basalt is the most common rock found on earth’ crust. Basalt’s composition is similar to gabbro but gabbro is a coarse-grained rock. Rock Composition The silica (SiO2) content in Basalt is 45%-52%. It also … Read more
Dacite Rock Type, Composition, Formation, Occurrence & Uses
Dacite is a volcanic igneous rock. It is a fine-grained rock that is normally light in color and is often considered a quartz-bearing variety of andesite. Rock Composition Dacite is often considered a fine-grained equivalent of granodiorite. It has a generalized mineral composition between rhyolite and andesite. Dacite has more quartz than andesite and more … Read more
Diorite Rock Type, Composition, Formation, Occurrence & Uses
Diorite is a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock. Its composition is in-between granite and basalt. The rock is usually found as large intrusions, dikes, and sills. Rock Composition Diorite is composed of silicate minerals like plagioclase feldspar (typically andesine), biotite, hornblende, and/or pyroxene. Diorite may also contain trace amounts of microcline, quartz, and olivine. Sulfides, zircon, … Read more
Gabbro Rock Type, Composition, Formation, Occurrence & Uses
Gabbro is an intrusive igneous rock with a black or dark-green appearance. The term “Gabbro” was first used in the 1760s to name a newly discovered rock found in ophiolites of the Apennine Mountains in Italy. The rock was named after Gabbro, a hamlet near Rosignano Marittimo in Tuscany, Italy. A famous German geologist, Christian … Read more
Limestone Rock Type, Composition, Formation, & Uses
Limestone is a non-clastic sedimentary rock consisting of more than 50% calcite (a calcium carbonate mineral, CaCO3). Limestone is mostly a biological rock that forms in clear, warm, and shallow marine waters. Limestone exists in various types and colors. Its composition varies slightly from one reserve to another, but all types contain calcium carbonate as … Read more
Shale Rock Type, Color, Composition, Formation, Occurrence, & Uses
Shale is an abundant, fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock. The rock forms when silt and clay-sized mineral particles compress. Its composition and properties place the rock in the “mudstones category.” It is distinguished from other mudstones owing to its fissility and lamination. A rock is said to be laminated when it is made up of numerous … Read more
Sandstone Rock Type, Composition, Formation, Occurrence, & Uses
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock. It is the most common sedimentary rock found in sedimentary basins worldwide. Sandstone is sand cemented together into a rock. A sandstone rock can be simply identified by simply looking at it. However, a closer examination reveals an interesting mix-up of sediment, cement, and matrix. Research into this rock … Read more
Rock Salt Type, Composition, Formation, Occurrence, Mining & Uses
Rock salt is a sedimentary rock primarily composed of halite. Halite is a mineral of sodium chloride (common salt), NaCl. Rock salt is usually white or colorless. However, impurities in the rock salt can make it appear light blue, pink, purple, yellow, orange, or gray. Colorless salt is rated the purest as it doesn’t contain … Read more
Amphibolite Rock Type, Formation, Occurrence & Uses
Amphibolite is a dark-colored, weekly-foliated metamorphic rock that contains plagioclase feldspar and amphibole of the hornblende group. The amphibole is usually green, brown, or black. The rock may also contain metamorphic minerals like garnet, wollastonite, andalusite, staurolite, kyanite, biotite, epidote, and sillimanite. Quartz, magnetite, and calcite are also present in trace amounts in some rocks. … Read more
Gneiss Rock Type, Composition, Formation, Occurrence & Uses
Gneiss is a common and widely distributed foliated metamorphic rock. It is identified by its bands and lenses of varying mineral composition. Some bands may contain granular minerals bound together in an interlocking texture. Some bands show a parallel orientation with overall banding in the rock because of elongated minerals. Gneiss rock’s texture is defined … Read more
Hornfels Rock Type, Composition, Formation, Occurrence & Uses
Hornfels is a non-foliated and very fine-grained metamorphic rock with a variable composition. It is a very hard rock with a mottled brownish color. It is usually found adjacent to igneous intrusion sites at shallow depths. The word Hornfels is often used as a group name for a set of contact metamorphic rocks that have … Read more
Lapis Lazuli Rock Type, Composition, Formation, Occurrence & Uses
Lapis Lazuli, or lapis, is one of the oldest spiritual stones known to mankind. It has been used by healers, priests, royalty, and elites for power, wisdom, and to achieve the inner vision. It is also used for calmness, tranquility, stress relief, and serenity. It is a blue metamorphic rock used as a gemstone, sculpturing … Read more
