Lithic sandstone


Lithic sandstones, or lithic arenites, or litharenites, are sandstones with a significant component of lithic fragments, though quartz and feldspar are usually present as well, along with some clayey matrix. Lithic sandstones can have a speckled or gray color, and are usually associated with one specific type of lithic fragment.
Tectonically, lithic sandstones often form in a wide variety sedimentary depositional environments associated with active margins. This tectonic setting provides the source of the lithic fragments, either through arc volcanism, thin-skinned faulting, continental collisions, unroofing, and subduction roll-back.