Earth > If Rocks Could Talk > Sandstone

Sandstone: It's my pleasure, Rondi. I feel it's important that the world hear our tragic story. It is a story of heartbreak. A story of separation. A story of ... family. (Sniff.) You'll have to forgive me. I always get a little choked up when I talk about this.

Sandstone: Ah, the good old days. Well, my family is known as the Old Red Sandstone. We started to form about 400 million years ago. I don't have to tell you, the world was a different place back then.

Sandstone: It was a totally different planet. Now, you might be thinking: "Oh, there weren't cars back then." Well, let me tell you. There weren't even people. In fact, there wasn't even a North American continent. There was just one "super-continent."

Sandstone: That's the one. Anyway, about 400 million years ago, mountain ranges started to form in my old neighborhood of Pangaea.

Sandstone: Yes. Today, two of these are still around:  the Appalachian Mountains in the U.S. and the Caledonian Mountains in Europe.  As those mountains formed, sand, silt, tiny pieces of rock, and other sediments washed into the water between the two mountain ranges. These sediments sank to the bottom and, over time, formed layers and layers of sediments, one on top of the other. As the layers grew thicker, they became squeezed and cemented to form sandstone.

Sandstone: Oh, you mean my healthy red glow? The color of sandstone depends on the chemicals in the sand it's made from.  When there's a lot of iron, it turns rusty red - like me! And I may be old for sandstone but I'm not that old.  There are rocks at the Museum that are much older than I am! 

Sandstone: That was a sad time in my life, Rondi. This is how it all happened. Earth's rocky surface is split into huge pieces.

Sandstone: Yes! It's all because of them that this happened! As you know, the tectonic plates float on the mantle, a layer of hot solid rock just below Earth's crust.  The mantle is always moving, which causes the plates to move. When the plates move, they cause mountains to form, volcanoes  to erupt, earthquakes  to shake ...

Sandstone: Yes, they even cause continents to move. About 200 million years ago, the tectonic plate that we were sitting on broke, and the two pieces separated from each other.

Sandstone: Yes ... (sniff) ... and the Old Red Sandstone family was separated, too. For millions of years, we've been divided by the Atlantic Ocean. But I never forgot them ...

Sandstone: Fate? Luck? Actually, it was the American Museum of Natural History. Their scientists collected us for the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth exhibition.

Sandstone: We had changed a bit. After all, a lot of time had passed. But we recognized each other right away. You just never forget family.

Sandstone: Of course I do! Look at that gorgeous rock.

Sandstone: Oh, it was lovely speaking with you, Rondi.