Cementation (geology)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cementation is the process of deposition of dissolved mineral components in the interstices of sediments. It is an important factor in the consolidation of coarse-grained clastic sedimentary rocks such as sandstones, conglomerates, or breccias during diagenesis or lithification. Cementing materials may include silica, carbonates, iron oxides, or clay minerals.

Cementation is also continually going on in the groundwater zone, so much so that the term "zone of cementation" is sometimes used interchangeably. Cementation occurs in fissures or other openings of existing rocks and is a dynamic process more or less in equilibrium with a dissolution or dissolving process.