• Specimen Number

  40

• Description

  Cut block of finely bedded and laminated sandstone with white beds marked by rusty separations.  Liesegang bands.  Reportedly 93% silica based on analysis by state survey.  Verified by 3 separate members of the state survey, each in their own words.

• Classification

  Sedimentary. Sandstone.  Arenite.

• Location & Occurrence

  Rare sandstone quarried from Crab Orchard Mountain in Cumberland Plateau.   Marine sandstone in back barrier, tidal flat and tidal channel in barrier deltaic system.  Crab Orchard Stone is from Cumberland County Tennessee.  Parallel bedded at fine scale suggests suspension settling, with minor thinings and rare pinch-outs. Prominent stains show minor erosion of underlying beds.

• Geologic Age

  Lower Pennsylvanian.

• Geoheritage

  Named for an orchard of crabapples.  This is our best specimen for showing sedimentary bedding. Used for dimension stone. Use rose to prominence in 1920s for its beauty and utility.  Many prominent buildings, including Country Music Hall of Fame Museum in Nashville, was built in 2001.

• Links

  Link to State Geological Map from USGS.  Link to Tennessee Geological Survey .

• Other

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