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Monday 10 October 2016

Spot the Frippet: psammite.

Psammite is, obviously, a psammead's favourite kind of rock, and as a psammead (you say it SAMMeeADD) is a sand fairy, psammite must therefore be sandstone.

So where can we find some sandstone?

Well, in rockeries. Paving. Grindstones. Mixed into tarmac (which seems to be called blacktop in America). 

Structures are often built of psammite even though the softer sorts erode quickly:

File:Red sandstone castle walls - geograph.org.uk - 1732778.jpg
Ruined wall, Shrewsbury Castle. Photo by ceridwen

Psammite comes in the form of hills and caves:


Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona: photo by Moondigger 

It's used for statues:

File:Sandstone statues of dancers (10th century), Museum of Vietnamese History, Ho Chi Minh City - 20121014.JPG
Dancers, 10th century, Ho Chi Minh. Photo by Jacklee

and towns:

File:Buccleuch St, Dumfries, 2007-07-26.jpg
Dumfries, Scotland. Photo by Contains Mild Peril

I only wish I could point out to you some psammite surrounding the sandy home of a genuine psammead:



Still, if you spot one, do let us all know.

Spot the frippet: psammite. This word comes from the Greek psammos, which means sand.










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