Halite (cubic with hopper faces) crystallized within the limy muds forming during Late Silurian time. Sub- sequently, the highly soluble salt was removed leaving behind the insoluble residue. The red color may be HEMATITE, but the salt hoppers were probably PYRITIZED, and what we see is the alteration pro- duct as a residue. The rock shown above is a WATERLIME, a very fine-grained DOLOSTONE having an admixture of clay and fine silica. Waterlimes are characteristic of the Late Silurian sequences of the region and are often noted for the exceptional eurypterid faunas they contain.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIMEN: Salt hoppers within a block of the Ellicott Creek Breccia, Fiddlers Green Formation, Bertie Group (Late Silurian), Ridgemount Quarry South, Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada. In the collection of the author. |
