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A metamorphosed sandstone breaks across its grains rather than around them because

  • A.recrystallisation has made the boundaries as strong as the grains
  • B.the grains have dissolved and been replaced by cement
  • C.directed pressure has aligned the quartz into a foliation
  • D.the original cement was calcareous rather than siliceous

Answer: A

In the parent sandstone the cement is the weak link and fracture follows the grain boundaries, whereas in quartzite there is no weaker path. That is why quartzite is both an excellent aggregate and expensive to drill and blast.

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