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Review Article
Sandstone, as bedrock, has the capability to provide the essential nutrients a plant needs
to thrive. The pore space in sandstone is a key factor that allows plants to obtain these
essential nutrients within the rock itself. One of the reasons for this is because the
moisture, trapped in the rock, is carrying many key nutrients a plant needs to survive. A
plant needs both macronutrients and micronutrients. Even though sandstone is a very
porous rock, moisture still gets trapped in the pores and the water gets moved around
within the sandstone. The pores also create a space where plants can grow their roots. As
these roots are growing and breaking up the rock, the formation itself is leaving off CO2
which is both helping to cool the atmosphere around the formation and giving the plant
the carbon dioxide it needs to grow. The bedrock in which a plant grows has a significant
impact on why plants can survive.
Keywords.Sandstone; Plants; Porosity; Micronutrients; Weathering
INTRODUCTION
The Ridgeley sandstone formation can provide
all the essential things a tree needs to grow. This
formation is part of a bigger formation called the
Oriskany formation, which was formed during
the Devonian time period. This sandstone
formation is formed primarily from sand sized
quartz. Over a long time these particles of sand
will cement together to form a sandstone. There
are many different factors that affect the quartz
cementation process. Some of these factors are
the temperature history of the quartz, the grain
OBSERVATIONS
There are two parts to this formation, the main
focal point and the other parts surrounding that
focal point. These parts surrounding the focal
point have been weathered away and are still
part of the main focal point. This main focal
point looks like a rock coming out of the side
and top of the little hill. This formation is a little
taller than two cars stacked on top of one
another and consists of many different crevasses.
Besides the main focal point of this formation
there are also smaller parts to it. These smaller
parts surround the focal point and range in size
from regular car tires to truck tires. On one of
these smaller parts there is a tree growing
directly off the side of it. The tree is located in a
gap in the rock. This geological feature is grey
when far away and then as people go closer it
looks more like a brownish green color with
moss growing on both the main focal point and
the other parts of the formation. When people
blow directly on the rock little particles come
off. This shows that this particular sandstone has
not been completely cemented. The grains of
this rock are the size of the pointy end of a push
pin. This formation is made primarily out of
quartz particles. This formation has already gone
through significant weathering because there is
soil around this whole formation and because the
smaller parts that look separate from the
formation really are not separate. They only look
separate because of the weathering that took
DEMPSIE
seeing as though sandstone is a somewhat rigid
structure, but when all the pores in sandstone get
added up this can make a huge difference in the
amount of moisture particular sandstones can
hold. The sandstone in Africa has moisture in it
and it is also has more than one atmosphere of
pressure on it because it is located underneath
another type of rock. (Mol & Viles, 2010) So the
sandstone along Alexandria Pike Road should
have the capability to hold more moisture in the
rock then the one in Africa because this one has
less pressure on it because there is nothing
above the rock except the atmosphere. This
decrease in pressure makes the pore space in the
sandstone bigger, but not by such a big amount
that the force of gravity beats the capillary
forces acting in the pore space.
amount
of
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