What is Limestone?
Limestone is a type of sedimentary rock
So what is sedimentary rock?
Sedimentary rocks are formed from pieces of other existing rocks or organic material. There are three different types of of sedimentary rocks: clastic, organic (biological) and chemical.
Chemical sedimentary rocks like limestone, halite and flint form from chemical precipitation. A chemical precipitate is a chemical compound, for instance calcium carbonate, salt and silica, that forms when the solution it is dissolved in, usually water, evaporates and leaves the compound behind. This occurs as water travels through the earth’s crust, weathering the rock and dissolving some of its minerals, transporting it elsewhere. These dissolved minerals are precipitated when the water evaporates, and over time they build up and are compressed into rocks like limestone.