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Puddingstone, also known as either pudding stone or plum-pudding stone, is a popular name applied to a conglomerate that consists of distinctly rounded pebbles whose colours contrast sharply with the colour of the finer-grained, often sandy, matrix or cement surrounding them. The rounded pebbles and the sharp contrast in colour gives this type of conglomerate the appearance of a raisin or
Christmas pudding Christmas pudding is sweet dried-fruit pudding traditionally served as part of Christmas dinner in Britain and other countries to which the tradition has been exported. It has its origins in medieval England, with early recipes making use ...
.Neuendorf, K.E.K., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. Jackson (2005) ''Glossary of Geology.'' Springer-Verlag, New York, 779 pp., The McGraw-Hill Companies (2003) ''McGraw-Hill dictionary of geology and mineralogy'', 2nd ed. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, New York, 420 pp., There are different types of puddingstone, with different composition, origin, and geographical distribution. Examples of different types of puddingstones include the Hertfordshire, Schunemunk, Roxbury, and St. Joseph Island (Drummond Island) puddingstones.


Hertfordshire puddingstone

Hertfordshire puddingstone Hertfordshire puddingstone is a conglomerate sedimentary rock composed of rounded flint pebbles cemented together by a younger matrix of silica quartz. The distinctive rock is largely confined to the English counties of Buckinghamshire and He ...
is a
silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is ...
-cemented conglomerate composed of rounded
flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...
pebble A pebble is a clast of rock with a particle size of based on the Udden-Wentworth scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered larger than granules ( in diameter) and smaller than cobbles ( in diameter). A rock made predominan ...
s and cobbles with matrix of fine
sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of ...
and silica cement. The Hertfordshire Puddingstone is characterized by silica-cemented flint gravel that is brown to deep red in colour and often exhibits black exteriors and thin rinds on cut or polished surfaces. It typically occurs scattered across the land surface as isolated
concretion A concretion is a hard, compact mass of matter formed by the precipitation of mineral cement within the spaces between particles, and is found in sedimentary rock or soil. Concretions are often ovoid or spherical in shape, although irregular ...
-like masses in the areas of
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gover ...
and
Plumstead Common Plumstead Common is a common and urban park in Plumstead in the Royal Borough of Greenwich ( SE18), south-east London. It is part of the South East London Green Chain. Location and geology Plumstead Common is bound to the north by Old Mill Road ...
, England. Large masses of Hertfordshire Puddingstone often occur within local
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the '' Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed i ...
glacial
till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...
s. More than a dozen large blocks of this puddingstone were recovered from
Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning o ...
sediments during recent construction of the A10 bypass from Thundridge to Puckeridge. This indicates that the loose blocks of Hertfordshire Puddingstone were probably eroded out of these sediments. Although it is hypothesized that it is groundwater
silcrete Silcrete is an indurated (resists crumbling or powdering) soil duricrust formed when surface soil, sand, and gravel are cemented by dissolved silica. The formation of silcrete is similar to that of calcrete, formed by calcium carbonate, and fer ...
, its origin remains unresolved.Lovell, B., and J. Tubb (2006
''Ancient Quarrying of Rare in situ Palaeogene Hertfordshire Puddingstone.''
Mercian Geologist. 16(3):185-189.
Perkins, S. (2005
''Hertfordshire Puddingstone.''East Herts Rock Club
Ware, England.


Schunemunk puddingstone

The Schunemunk puddingstone, which is exposed extensively on Bearfort Mountain, Boonton, Rockaway Township and
Schunemunk Mountain Schunemunk Mountain (also spelled Schunnemunk) is the highest mountain in Orange County, New York. The summit is located in the town of Blooming Grove, with other portions in Cornwall and Woodbury. The community of Mountain Lodge Park is bu ...
, is a conglomerate in New York and New Jersey that is part of a thick
geologic formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics (lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock expo ...
formally known as the Skunnemunk Conglomerate. This puddingstone is a distinctive, Late
Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, w ...
, grayish-purple to grayish-red, thin to very thick-bedded, cross–bedded, conglomerate. Within the Skunnemunk Conglomerate, it is interbedded with grayish-purple to grayish-red
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
, thin-bedded, medium-gray sandstone, and greenish-gray and grayish-red
shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments ( silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...
with
mudcrack Mudcracks (also known as mud cracks, desiccation cracks or cracked mud) are sedimentary structures formed as muddy sediment dries and contracts.Jackson, J.A., 1997, ''Glossary of Geology'' (4th ed.), American Geological Institute, Alexandria, VA, ...
s. This conglomerate consists of pebbles and cobbles of white vein
quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical fo ...
, red and green
quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to ...
, sandstone, red and gray
chert Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a c ...
, and red shale. The grayish-purple to grayish-red conglomerate and sandstone is cemented largely by
hematite Hematite (), also spelled as haematite, is a common iron oxide compound with the formula, Fe2O3 and is widely found in rocks and soils. Hematite crystals belong to the rhombohedral lattice system which is designated the alpha polymorph of . ...
and microcrystalline quartz. The cobbles that it contains range in size from to .Herman, G.C., and J.P. Mitchell (1991) ''Bedrock Geologic Map of the Green Pond Mountain Region from Dover to Greenwood Lake, New Jersey.'' Geological Map Series no. 91-2. New Jersey Geological and Water Survey, Trenton, New Jersey.Merguerian, C., and J.E. Sanders (1992) ''Guide 17: Delaware Water Gap and Vicinity, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Trip 23: 20 June 1992.'' Duke Geological Laboratory, Westbury, New York. Pieces of Skunnemunk Conglomerate are easy to recognize and have been found in glacial deposits throughout the lower Hudson Valley region.Anonymous (2013a
''The Green Pond Outlier.''
Geology of National Parks, United States Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia.


Roxbury puddingstone

The Roxbury puddingstone is a massive,
Ediacaran The Ediacaran Period ( ) is a geological period that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period 635 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Cambrian Period 538.8 Mya. It marks the end of the Proterozoic Eon, and t ...
, clast-supported pebble and cobble conglomerate that occurs within the Brookline Member of the
Roxbury Conglomerate The Roxbury Conglomerate, also informally known as Roxbury puddingstone, is a name for a rock formation that forms the bedrock underlying most of Roxbury, Massachusetts, now part of the city of Boston. The bedrock formation extends well beyond t ...
that is exposed around
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- m ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
region. This conglomerate is composed of a grey feldspathic sand matrix and well-rounded pebbles and cobbles of quartzite,
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies unde ...
,
felsite Felsite is a very fine-grained volcanic rock that may or may not contain larger crystals. Felsite is a field term for a light-colored rock that typically requires petrographic examination or chemical analysis for more precise definition. Color i ...
, and
quartz monzonite Quartz monzonite is an intrusive, felsic, igneous rock that has an approximately equal proportion of orthoclase and plagioclase feldspars. It is typically a light colored phaneritic (coarse-grained) to porphyritic granitic rock. The plagioclase ...
. The beds of ‘puddingstone’ are complexly interbedded with layers of massive
diamictite Diamictite (; from Ancient Greek ''δια'' (dia-): ''through'' and ''µεικτός'' (meiktós): ''mixed'') is a type of lithified sedimentary rock that consists of nonsorted to poorly sorted terrigenous sediment containing particles that ra ...
and laminated and graded
argillite :''"Argillite" may also refer to Argillite, Kentucky.'' Argillite () is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantly of indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and oozes. They contain variable amoun ...
and sandstone. It likely accumulated as
turbidite A turbidite is the geologic deposit of a turbidity current, which is a type of amalgamation of fluidal and sediment gravity flow responsible for distributing vast amounts of clastic sediment into the deep ocean. Sequencing Turbidites were ...
s and submarine slumps within a submarine fan or outer slope environment within a deep rift basin submerged by marine waters.Carto, S.L., and N. Eyles (2011) ''Chapter 43 The Squantum Member of the Boston Basin, Massachusetts, USA'' In: E. Arnaud, G.P. Halverson, and G. Shields-Zhou, eds. pp. 475-480, The Geological Record of Neoproterozoic Glaciations. Memoirs no. 36. Geological Society, London, England.Passchier, S., and E. Erukanure (2010) ''Palaeoenvironments and weathering regime of the Neoproterozoic Squantum ‘Tillite’, Boston Basin: no evidence of a snowball Earth.'' Sedimentology. 57(6):1526–1544.


Jasper conglomerate

Jasper conglomerate, which is also denominated "pebble jasper conglomerate", "Saint Joseph Island puddingstone", "Drummond Island puddingstone", or "Michigan(ian) puddingstone", occurs in Saint Joseph Island and the vicinity of the Saint Mary's River, north and northwest of the
Bruce Mines Bruce Mines is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located on the north shore of Lake Huron in the Algoma District along Highway 17. The town of Bruce Mines had a population of 582 residents in 2016. The current mayor of Bruce Mines is ...
of
Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world ...
, circa east of Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario. In these locales, it occurs as thick beds of
Paleoproterozoic The Paleoproterozoic Era (;, also spelled Palaeoproterozoic), spanning the time period from (2.5–1.6  Ga), is the first of the three sub-divisions (eras) of the Proterozoic Eon. The Paleoproterozoic is also the longest era of the Earth's ...
pebble conglomerate within the medial part of a
geologic formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics (lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock expo ...
that is named the Lorrain Formation of the Cobalt Group. The jasper conglomerate consists of subrounded pebbles of red jasper, black chert, white quartzite, hematite, and semi-transparent quartz in a matrix of coarsely grained quartzite. It contains circa 30% to 90% of pebbles. Within the deposits of Lorrain Formation, the jasper conglomerates occur principally as the sedimentary fills of erosional troughs and channels of what are interpreted to be either
alluvial fan An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to semiarid climates, but a ...
s or deposits of
braided river A braided river, or braided channel, consists of a network of river channels separated by small, often temporary, islands called braid bars or, in English usage, '' aits'' or ''eyots''. Braided streams tend to occur in rivers with high sediment ...
.Lowey, G.W. (1985) ''Stratigraphy and Sedimentology of the Lorrain Formation, Huronian Supergroup (Aphebian), Between Sault Ste. Marie and Elliot Lake, Ontario, and Implications For Stratiform Gold Mineralization.'' Open File Report no. 1154. Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Canada.Baumann, S. D. J., T. Arrospide, and A. E. Wolosyzn (2011) ''Preliminary Redefinition of the Cobalt Group (Huronian Supergroup), in the Southern Geologic Province, Ontario, Canada.'' Midwest Institute of Geosciences and Engineering, Chicago, Illinois, USA. These deposits are inferred to be nonglacial in origin and immediately postdate the Paleoproterozoic Makganyene glaciation.Kopp R. E., J. L. Kirschvink, I. A. Hilburn, and C. Z. Nash. (2005) ''The Paleoproterozoic snowball Earth: a climate disaster triggered by the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis.'' Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102(32): 11131–6. Elsewhere, e. g. in
Drummond Island Drummond may refer to: Places Antarctica * Drummond Peak, King Edward VII Land * Drummond Glacier, Graham Land Canada * Drummond (electoral district), a Quebec federal riding * Drummond (provincial electoral district), Quebec * Drummo ...
,
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
, jasper conglomerate, there denominated "Drummond Island puddingstone", occurs as loose gravel within
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the '' Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed i ...
glacial drift In geology, drift is a name for all sediment ( clay, silt, sand, gravel, boulders) transported by a glacier and deposited directly by or from the ice, or by glacial meltwater. Drift is often subdivided into (unsorted and) unstratified drift ( ...
. These fragments of jasper conglomerate are
glacial erratic A glacial erratic is glacially deposited rock differing from the type of rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundr ...
s that continental
ice sheet In glaciology, an ice sheet, also known as a continental glacier, is a mass of glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than . The only current ice sheets are in Antarctica and Greenland; during the Last Glacial Period at L ...
s from Northern Ontario eroded and then spread throughout Michigan, including in Drummond Island, and as far south as
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The s ...
and
Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgin ...
during repeated glacial advances and retreats.Slawson, C. B. (1933) ''The Jasper Conglomerate, an Index of Drift Dispersion.'' The Journal of Geology. 41(5): 546–52.


References

{{reflist


External links

*Anonymous (nd
''Hertfordshire Puddingstone.''East Herts Rock Club
Ware, England. *Kelley, J.G., (2009
''Drummond Island Puddingstone.''
Drummond Island Tourism Association, Drummond Island, Michigan. *Share, J. (2011a

ttp://written-in-stone-seen-through-my-lens.blogspot.com/ Written In Stone...seen through my lens *Share, J. (2011a
''Architectural Geology of Boston: The Roxbury Conglomerate (Puddingstone) Part II - Quarries and Building Stone.''Written In Stone...seen through my lens
*Tubb, J. (2009
''Ancient Quarrying of Rare in situ Palaeogene Hertfordshire Puddingstone (Lovell and Tubb Mercian Geologist August 2006). An update.''East Herts Rock Club
Ware, England. Sedimentary rocks Conglomerates (geology)