How is shale and sandstone different?

Answer 1

Sandstone is composed of grains of weathered rock. Limestone is the skeletal remains of countless shelled creatures. Both took many centuries and much compression to form into a sedimentary rock. Limestone was frequent in Italy (that's why there are statues from it there) whereas sandstone was frequent in central Europe which caused the existence many statues from it there. Sculptors in Italy did not suffer from lung silicosis when compared with the artists in central Europe. Also the statues in Italy did not suffer from acid rains.

Answer 2

Many people confuse sand and clay as materials. Sand and clay are simply categories for sediment size. Sand is composed of sediments from 0.2 to 0.006 centimeters in size, and clay is composed of sediments less than 0.0004 centimeters in size, or 4 micrometers. Shale is formed from the compaction of clay and sandstone is formed from the compaction of sand. The only difference is sediment size, they can be made from any minerals.

Answer 3

Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of clay and silt particles, while sandstone is a coarse-grained sedimentary rock made up of sand-sized grains. Shale tends to form in low-energy environments like deep ocean basins, while sandstone forms in high-energy environments like rivers and beaches. Sandstone is generally more porous and permeable than shale, making it a better reservoir rock for oil and gas.

Answer 4

The difference is that sandstone is composed of sand-sized particles, which are bigger than the silt particles which make up siltstone.