BH250-179b
Title
BH250-179b
Subject
Oolite
Description
Major Minerals: calcite
Minor Minerals: quartz
BH250-178a, 178b, and 178c are samples collected during a field trip to Death Valley, all of which exhibit distinctive oolitic textures. There is a large hand sample of BH250-179a that contains noticeably larger ooids both in the hand sample and thin section.
Oolites are sedimentary rocks composed of small, spherical grains called ooids, typically coated with calcium carbonate (calcite or originally aragonite). These spherical grains form through the accumulation of concentric layers of carbonate around a nucleus, such as a shell fragment or quartz grain.
In Death Valley, California, oolitic limestones are well exposed, particularly within the Noonday Dolomite and the Beck Spring Dolomite.
Minor Minerals: quartz
BH250-178a, 178b, and 178c are samples collected during a field trip to Death Valley, all of which exhibit distinctive oolitic textures. There is a large hand sample of BH250-179a that contains noticeably larger ooids both in the hand sample and thin section.
Oolites are sedimentary rocks composed of small, spherical grains called ooids, typically coated with calcium carbonate (calcite or originally aragonite). These spherical grains form through the accumulation of concentric layers of carbonate around a nucleus, such as a shell fragment or quartz grain.
In Death Valley, California, oolitic limestones are well exposed, particularly within the Noonday Dolomite and the Beck Spring Dolomite.
Coverage
Location: Death Valley, California, USA
Nearby Geographic Feature: Death Valley
GPS Coordinates: 35.685406, -116.405664
Nearby Geographic Feature: Death Valley
GPS Coordinates: 35.685406, -116.405664
Creator
Bereket Haileab
Source
From the rock collection of Bereket Haileab. Sample 179b. Housed at Carleton College in Minnesota.
Type
Thin section and hand sample
Relation
Collection
Citation
Bereket Haileab, “BH250-179b,” BH250 Mineralogy Teaching Collection, accessed April 25, 2026, https://bereket-haileab.geology.sites.carleton.edu/items/show/243.