CLASSIFICATION OF SANDSTONES1

F. J. PETTIJOHN
The Johns Hopkins University
ABSTRACT
Three factors are believed to be of greatest genetic importance in the classification of sandstones. These
are the provenance factor, the maturity factor, and the fluidity (density and viscosity) factor. Ob-
servable properties believed to be indexes of these three factors, respectively, are the feldspar/rock par-
ticle ratio, the quartz plus chert/feldspar plus rock fragment ratio, and the grain/matrix ratio. On the
basis of these indexes, sandstones, excluding tuffs and calcarenites, are grouped into four families, namely,
graywackes, lithic sandstone, arkosic sandstones, and orthoquartzites. Each family is divided into two sub-
families.

INTRODUCTION classification that was in some degree

There are two solutions to the prob-
lem of classification and nomenclature
of sandstones. One is to adopt a set of
arbitrary but agreed-upon definitions
which are based on easily recognized
and measurable properties. The other is
to try to build a classification based on
genetically significant properties. Such
a scheme, though most desirable in the
long run, has the hazard that the proper-
ties chosen as genetically significant are
those so considered in light of our present
knowledge and concepts of sandstone
formation. Hence such a classification
does, in fact, reflect the state of our
knowledge at the moment. The develop-
ment of new ideas respecting origin might
render such a classification obsolete.
At the present time the properties of
a sandstone which seem significant are
those which reflect the character of the
source rocks (provenance), those which
measure the approach of the sand debris
to the ultimate end-product to which it
has been driven by the formative proc-
esses operating on it (maturity), and
those which reflect the fluidity (density
and viscosity) of the medium from which
the sand was deposited. Many of the
older workers used a nomenclature and
1 Manuscript received March 29, 1954.
360
indicative of one or another of these fun-
damental concepts. Some of the more
recent papers on the subject are attempts
to formalize these intuitive concepts and
to organize or order our knowledge so
as to provide a more rational classifica-
tion of sandstones.
PROVENANCE FACTORS
The provenance factors will be con-
sidered first. Sands may be produced by
disintegration with or without much de-
composition of the plutonic crystalline
rocks-most especially the quartz-bear-
ing plutonic rocks, such as granite. In
fact, these rocks must be the ultimate
source for all or nearly all the quartz,
which is the dominant constituent of
most sandstones. Sands may also be de-
rived from the supracrustal rocks, such
as pre-existing sediments, low-grade
metamorphic rocks, and eruptive igne-
ous rocks. These rocks are capable of
yielding rock particles of sand size, and
these particles may form a significant
part of some sandstones and be the dom-
inant constituents in others.
Although it may be important to
recognize an igneous, sedimentary, or
metamorphic source of the sand debris,
it is also important to differentiate be-

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 CLASSIFICATION OF SANDSTONES
tween a supracrustal and a plutonic
source. Owing to the difference in grain
size of the plutonic and supracrustal
rocks, the plutonic contributions are
mineral grains, notably quartz and feld-
spar, whereas the supracrustal contribu-
tions are rock particles, either lavas or
low-grade metamorphic or sedimentary
rocks. The ratio of feldspar to the rock
particles is therefore a provenance or
source-rock index and a measure of the
relative importance of the contributions
of the two fundamental groups of rocks.
Other "source-rock indexes" have
been proposed. Dapples, Krumbein, and
Sloss (1953) used the ratio of feldspar to
rock fragments plus "clay" matrix. This
index is a hybrid measure, involving
both provenance and sorting. It would
seem undesirable to use a parameter
compounded of unlike and unrelated
items. Folk (1954) attempted to dis-
criminate between a metamorphic and
an igneous provenance and accordingly
determined the ratio of feldspar (igne-
ous) to metamorphic-rock fragments,
micas, and metamorphic quartz. (If
metamorphic quartz is included in the
metamorphic suite, why should not
igneous quartz be included with the
feldspar?) This parameter is also a mixed
one. The mixing of labile and stable com-
ponents in a source-rock index means
that this index is subject to variations
unrelated to source rocks, namely,
modifications related to climate and
relief and mineral response to these
factors.
MATURITY FACTORS
Maturity may be compositional and
expressed in chemical or mineralogic
terms. The ultimate sand is a concentra-
tion of pure quartz. This mineral is the
only chemically and physically durable
constituent of plutonic rocks common
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361
enough to be accumulated in great vol-
ume. A measure of the mineralogical
maturity of a sand, therefore, is given
by its quartz content. As most of the
quartz was originally plutonic and close-
ly associated with feldspar, the maturity
may also be expressed by the disappear-
ance of the feldspar or, as earlier proposed
(Pettijohn, 1949, p. 382), by the quartz/
feldspar ratio.
The quartz/feldspar ratio is not ap-
propriate for sands the sources of which
were feldspar-poor, such as the supra-
crustal suite, namely, the low-grade
metamorphic and sedimentary rocks.
The paucity of feldspar would lead to a
deceptively high quartz/feldspar ratio.
The sands derived from a supracrustal
complex would contain rock particles
none of which, except chert, has both
chemical and mechanical stability. The
ratio of chert/noncherty rock fragments
would be an appropriate maturity index
for such sands.2 Inasmuch as most sands
have a complex source, the maturity
indexes might best be combined so that
the influence of source rocks would be
eliminated. The index, therefore, would
be quartz plus chert/feldspar plus rock
fragments.
The maturity index, based essentially
on the concentration of quartz and chert,
does not indicate how this concentration
was achieved. The index is only a meas-
ure of the effectiveness of the processes,
which are both chemical and mechanical.
Most other attempts at a rational clas-
sification of sands have recognized the
significance of the high quartz content.
Dapples, Krumbein, and Sloss (1953)
expressed this as a "quartz index," which
is a ratio much like that of the author's,
except that the clay matrix, if any, is
added to the labile feldspar and rock
2 Essentially similar to maturity index devised
by Plumley (1949, p. 574) for gravels.
362
fragments. Clay is not a labile constitu-
ent but is, instead, a very stable one. The
index so modified is a hybrid, involving
both compositional maturity and sort-
ing. Nanz (1952), on the other hand,
rightly grouped the rock fragments with
the feldspar and the chert with the
quartz.
The compositional maturity of a sand-
stone can also be expressed in chemical
terms. The percentage of silica would be
a good measure if it were not augmented
or diminished (relatively) by the intro-
duction of the various chemical cements.
Immature sands commonly are high in
alumina, soda, and potash. Unfortunate-
ly, some ill-sorted sediments, otherwise
mature, may also be high in some of
these components.
Compositional maturity is rarely at-
tained without a corresponding achieve-
ment of textural maturity. The latter
may be defined in terms of uniformity
of size of the clastic elements ("sorting")
and perfection of rounding. Though to
some degree independent, statistically
the best-sorted sands are also the best
rounded (Dapples, Krumbein, and Sloss,
1953, fig. 10). The correlation is poor,
however, owing perhaps to the fact that
sorting is achieved very quickly under
normal conditions, whereas rounding
requires prolonged abrasion. Both ex-
perimental studies and field observa-
tions show that sand, unlike gravel, is
rounded with extreme slowness. Rivers
do round sand, as demonstrated by
Plumley's studies in the Black Hills
(1949), but so slowly that the movement
of sand from the continental interior to
the sea is insufficient to produce a high
degree of rounding. Yet brief transport is
normally all that is needed to achieve a
reasonably good sizing. Glacial outwash
sands, which have traveled for only a very
short distance and for a very brief time,
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F. J. PETTIJOHN
may be well sorted, though they remain
highly angular.
FLUIDITY FACTOR
The effectiveness of the sorting proc-
ess is dependent mainly on the density
and viscosity of the transporting me-
dium. If the density difference between
the solid carried and the transporting
fluid is great, the separation is rapid and
complete; if small, the separation is in-
complete or lacking. Obviously, if the
fluid and the solid had the same density,
no separation whatever would take place.
Settling in fluids of high viscosity is also
greatly retarded, so that separation is
commonly very poor (Kuenen, 1951,
p. 24-26). A deposit, therefore, in which
the sand is not separated from the silt or
clay either must have been formed from
a medium of high density or high vis-
cosity, or the time must have been too
brief for completion of the normal sort-
ing action. Inasmuch as the latter is
achieved even by ephemeral streams as
a result of a very brief and short trans-
port, the mixed sediments or "wackes"
must be mainly the products of deposi-
tion from media of high density or vis-
cosity. The only such media in nature are
those in which the sediment/fluid ratio
is very high. Such a medium behaves in
all essential respects like a heavy fluid.
It will transport large fragments or
blocks, even at very low velocities; will
deposit all sizes without effective sorting;
will underflow fluids of more normal
densities; and will even flow on slopes
of zero inclination. A very high sedi-
ment/fluid ratio results in both high
density and high viscosity. The flow be-
havior of these media are more like semi-
solid bodies than like fluids. The pres-
ence or absence of a detrital clay-sized
matrix in a sand is an index of the effec-
tiveness of the sorting ability of the
 CLASSIFICATION OF SANDSTONES 363

transporting medium and therefore of interstitial clay may be polygenetic, it

the sediment/fluid ratio of that medium. is desirable to set apart those sandstones
Sands and sandstones may be divided with such a matrix from those with
into two major groups on the basis of empty voids or with the ordinary pre-
the binding material. One group is held cipitated cements.
together by a mineral cement, i.e., an
introduced precipitated material, which CLASSIFICATION
fills the pore space between the grains It seems necessary, therefore, to define
and holds them together. The other sandstone on the basis of those parame-
group is bonded together by a fine- ters which are the indexes of provenance,
grained primary interstitial detritus or maturity, and fluidity of the depositing
matrix of claylike nature or the authi- medium. These are the "source-rock
genic derivatives therefrom. The first index" or ratio of feldspar (plutonic) to
group, therefore, are the normal "clean" rock fragments (supracrustal), the "ma-
sands deposited by fluids of low density. turity index" or ratio of quartz (plus
As Lane (1938) has noted, the bed de- chert) to feldspar plus rock fragments,
posits of rivers, even those like the Mis- and the "fluidity index" or ratio of sand
sissippi, the chief burden of which is silt detritus to the interstitial detrital matrix.
and clay, are clean sands. Also the glacial On the basis of these three parameters,
outwash sands, deposited from the silt- sandstones may be grouped into four
laden glacial waters ("glacial milk") major classes and several lesser ones.
after a brief and short transport, are The major groups are the graywackes,
relatively clean. The analyses of the de- the arkosic sandstones, lithic sandstones,
posits of littoral and other shore cur- and the orthoquartzites. These major
rents show these materials also to be groups are defined and related to each
normal clean sands. other as shown in figure 1.
The second group, therefore, probably The graywackes, as shown in the fig-
owe their detrital matrix or "paste" to ure, are the sandstones with high detrital
deposition from fluids with higher sedi- matrix content and no chemical cement.
ment/fluid ratios. Such media are the These rocks are divided into two sub-
subaqueous turbidity flows found in groups dependent on dominance of feld-
some lakes and in many marine environ- spar over rock fragments or vice versa
ments and their atmospheric analogues.3 and are named feldspathic and lithic
Not all sandstones with a clay matrix, graywackes, respectively.4 The arkosic
however, are products of turbidity flows. sandstones are defined as those rocks
The clay matrix of some sandstones may with considerable feldspar. They differ
be introduced after deposition of the sand from graywackes in the absence of a
fraction either by mechanical infiltration significant quantity of interstitial matrix.
or perhaps even by precipitation from Arkoses contain 25 per cent or more of
true ionic solution. Even though the labile particles, half or more of which are
3 Although most media of high density are sub- 4 The adjective "lithic" has long been applied
aqueous and responsible for a large and important by petrographers to certain tuffs to denote a high
class of sands-the graywackes-some terrestrial content of rock particles. Since preparing this manu-
deposits are formed from such media. These are script, the author has received the recently published
generally rare and can be distinguished from the Petrography by Williams, Turner, and Gilbert
product of subaqueous turbidity flows by other and found that these authors have also used the
criteria than their lack of assortment. term "lithic graywacke" and "lithic arenite."

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364 F. J. PETTIJOHN

feldspar; subarkoses are similar but with
a smaller proportion of labile components
(5-25 per cent).5 Sandstones in which
rock particles exceed feldspar, but which
do not have a detrital matrix and have
instead a mineral cement, are the lithic
arenites or sandstones, of which there are
two types, namely, subgraywackes and
protoquartzites.6 The former is analo-
gous to arkose, in that the labile frag-
ments exceed 25 per cent (of which more
There are two groups of sands not
properly accounted for by the above clas-
sification. These are the volcanic sands
or tuffs and the calcareous sands. The
volcanic sediments may be classified in
terms of the matrix/grain ratio and the
feldspar/rock fragment ratio. The
quartz/feldspar ratio, however, has no
relation to maturity, as it does in the
epiclastic sands. In fact, the "maturity"
concept has no meaning in the case of

Detrital matrix Detrital matrix absent or scarce - < 15%

>15% <75% Voids empty or filled with precipitated
filler
Void- cement) cements
(matrix or

ARKOSIC SANDSTONES
Feldspathic Subarkose or
ments graywacke Arkose feldspathic
Feldspar>
Rock frag- quartzite >5%
chert
fraction

Lithic LITHIC SANDSTONES

graywacke Subgraywacke Protoquartzite
GRAYWACKES >5%
detrital
framework
ment>
Rock feldspar
frag- ORTHOQUARTZITES
or
Variable;
Sand generally <75% >75% <95% >95%
Quartz
content
+chert <75%

FIG. 1.-Classification of sandstones, excluding tuffs and calcarenites

than half are rock particles); in the proto-
quartzites these materials constitute
5-25 per cent of the detrital fraction.
Orthoquartzites are the "pure" sand-
stones, 90 per cent or more quartz. These
may be derived from the lithic arenites
or from the arkosic sandstones. In the
former case they will be characterized by
metamorphic quartz and chert particles;
in the latter case chert is absent or nearly
so (under 5 per cent), and the quartz is
igneous quartz.
6 Note that although feldspar may constitute 25
or more per cent of the arkose, it might form as little
as 12.5 per cent of the detrital fraction.
the pyroclastic materials. The quartz
content might, however, be some meas-
ure of the acidity of the generating lava
or a measure of contamination by nor-
mal epiclastic materials. The chaotic
unsorted tuffs laid down by the nudes
ardentes are related to the graywackes
in their manner of deposition and hence
have similar textures and structures.
Many tuffs, both airborne and water-
laid, are reasonably well sorted and with-
out appreciable interstitial materials.
Crystal tuffs are the volcanic equivalent
6 A term used by Krynine (quoted in Payne,
1951).

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 CLASSIFICATION OF SANDSTONES
of arkose; lithic tuffs correspond to lithic
arenites.
The calcareous sands are of intra-
formational origin and the terms "prove-
nance index" and "maturity index" as
applied to the "extraformational" sands
have no meaning for intraformational
debris. The provenance of the carbonate
sands may be biogenic or chemical, and
only in a textural sense can they be
mature.
CONCLUSION
Although the classification here pre-
sented is based on what are believed to
be genetically significant properties, the
classification is not genetic. A knowledge
of the origin is not necessary to name or
classify the sandstone. The classification
is based upon simple observable charac-
ters.
REFERENCES
DAPPLES,E. C.; KRUMBEIN, W. C.; and SLoss, L. L.,
1953, Petrographic and lithologic attributes of
sandstones: Jour. Geology, v. 61, p. 291-317.
FOLK,R. L., 1954, The distinction between grain
size and mineral composition in sedimentary rock
nomenclature: Jour. Geology, v. 62, p. 344-359.
KUENEN,PH. H., 1951, Properties of turbidity cur-
rents of high density: Soc. Econ. Paleontologists
and Mineralogists, Special Pub. no. 2, p. 14-33.
LANE,E. W., 1938, Notes on the formation of sand:
Am. Geophys. Union, Trans. 19th Ann. mtg.
p. 505-508.
NANZ,R. H., JR., 1952, Unpublished manuscript.
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All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
365
Although the defining properties are
best seen under the microscope, the clas-
sification is not without value to the
field geologist. With a little experience,
the principal types may be recognized
in the hand specimen, as each is generally
characterized by distinctive secondary
properties, such as color, internal struc-
tures, associations, and the like which
are closely correlated with the defining
parameters. In any event, microscopic
study of thin sections of sedimentary
rocks should now be a routine matter,
as it has long been for the students of
igneous and metamorphic rocks.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.-Theauthor is indebt-
ed to Dr. R. H. Nanz,Jr., of the ShellDevelop-
ment Company, and Dr. E. C. Dapples, of
Northwestern University, who read the manu-
script and made helpful suggestions.
CITED
PAYNE,T. G., and OTHERS,1951, The Arctic slope
of Alaska: U.S. Geol. Survey, Oil and Gas Inv.,
Map OM 126, Sheet 2.
PETTIJOHN,F. J., 1943, Archean sedimentation:
Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 54, p. 925-972.
--- 1949, Sedimentary rocks, p. 382-383: New
York, Harper & Bros.
PLUMLEY, W. J., 1949, Black Hills terrace gravels:
a study in sediment transport: Jour. Geology,
v. 56, p. 526-577.
WILLIAMS, HOWEL; TURNER, F. J.; and GILBERT,
C. M., 1954, Petrography, p. 294: San Francisco,
W. H. Freeman & Co.