Editing Gritstone

{{Short description|Hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone}}
[[Image:Salt cellar 2 (2).jpg|300px|thumb|right|The Salt Cellar, a gritstone [[Tor (rock formation)|tor]] on [[Derwent Edge]] in the [[Peak District]], England]]

'''Gritstone''' or '''grit''' is a hard, coarse-grained, [[Silicon dioxide|siliceous]] [[sandstone]]. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are  [[quarry|quarried]] for [[building material]]. British gritstone was used for [[millstone]]s to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for paper and for [[Grindstone (tool)|grindstones]] to sharpen blades. "Grit" is often applied to sandstones composed of angular [[sand]] grains. It may commonly contain small [[pebble]]s.<ref name="NeuendorfOthers2005a">{{cite book |editor-last1=Neuendorf |editor-first1=K.K.E. |editor-first2=J.P. |editor-last2=Mehl Jr. |editor-first3=J.A. |editor-last3=Jackson |year=2005 |title=Glossary of Geology |edition=5th |location=Alexandria, Virginia |publisher=American Geological Institute |isbn=0-922152-76-4}}{{page needed|date=December 2011}}</ref> 
 
"[[Millstone Grit]]" is an informal term for a succession of gritstones which are to be found in the [[Pennine Range|Pennines]] (including the [[Peak District]]) of northern England.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.climber.co.uk/skills/trad-climbing/gritstone.html|title=Gritstone - Climber Magazine|last=Peter|first=Libby|website=Climber Magazine|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802083325/http://climber.co.uk/skills/trad-climbing/gritstone.html|archive-date=2016-08-02|access-date=2019-12-15}}</ref> These sediments were laid down in the late (upper) [[Paleozoic]] era, in the [[Carboniferous]] period, in [[River delta|deltaic]] conditions. The Millstone Grit Group is a formal [[stratigraphy|stratigraphic]] term for this sequence of rocks.

The gritstone edges of the [[rock climbing in the Peak District|Peak District]] are an important climbing area and the rock is much relished by English [[climbing|climbers]], among whom it has almost cult status and is often referred to as "God's own rock".<ref name="Whitehouse">{{cite book |editor-last1=Long |editor-first1=John |editor-last2=Sponholz |editor-first2=Hai-Van K |first=Annie |last=Whitehouse |title=The High Lonesome: Epic Solo Climbing Stories |chapter=An Interview with Derek Hersey |publisher=Falcon Publishing |location=Helena, MT |year=1999 |pages=77 |isbn=1-56044-858-X |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=A60h26OwVYYC&pg=PA77 }}</ref>  The rough surface provides outstanding friction, enabling climbers to stand on or grip the subtlest of features in the rock.

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[[Category:Sedimentary rocks]]
[[Category:Sandstone]]


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