Sparite
Relatively coarse crystalline calcite, particularly sparry cement in carbonate rocks.
Language and route: English shortened formation sparry calcite; Folk 1959 contrast with micrite. English shortened formation sparry calcite; Folk 1959 contrast with micrite
Literal gloss: SPARry calcITE
The name and its history
Robert L. Folk (1959 systematic classification) · 1959 original abstract directly checked
- What does the word literally mean?
- Immediate source or formation: English shortened formation sparry calcite; Folk 1959 contrast with micrite. Literal gloss ‘SPARry calcITE’. This linguistic evidence is distinct from claims about the namer’s intentions.
- What did the original author mean?
- Folk proposed subdividing limestones using carbonate grains, microcrystalline matrix and clear coarser calcite cement.
- Why was the name needed?
- The scheme sought to infer original depositional fabric despite later cementation of pore spaces.
- What evidence supported the original concept?
- In Folk’s original abstract sparry calcite is typically interpreted as pore-filling cement but occasionally recrystallisation; the original text explicitly contains this qualification.
- How has geology changed the concept?
- Sparry textures can also form by replacement or recrystallisation; modern diagenetic work requires care before equating all sparite with marine cement.
Further historical context
Folk proposed subdividing limestones using carbonate grains, microcrystalline matrix and clear coarser calcite cement.
The scheme sought to infer original depositional fabric despite later cementation of pore spaces.
In Folk’s original abstract sparry calcite is typically interpreted as pore-filling cement but occasionally recrystallisation; the original text explicitly contains this qualification.
Sparry textures can also form by replacement or recrystallisation; modern diagenetic work requires care before equating all sparite with marine cement.
Editorial qualification
Priority and exact original naming language not independently authenticated; distinguish documented later use from first coinage.
Related names
Sources
- Folk 1959, Practical Petrographic Classification of Limestones, AAPG Bulletin 43:1–38 — identified original publication; abstract directly inspected, not every page
- SEPM Strata, carbonate classification comparing Folk, Dunham and extensions — professional retrospective of distinct schemes and Embry–Klovan 1971 extension
- British Geological Survey, Rock Classification Scheme, vol. 3 — modern descriptive classification, not evidence of historical first coinage