{{Short description|Limestone formed of calcareous particles}} [[File:Turonian Jerusalem Stone 031612.JPG|thumb|300px|Meleke in the Gerofit Formation (Turonian) near Makhtesh Ramon, southern Israel; a type of micrite.]] '''Micrite''' is a limestone constituent formed of fine calcareous particles ranging in diameter up to five μm formed by the recrystallization of lime mud.<ref name="Folk1959">{{cite journal | last1=Folk | first1=Robert L. | year=1959 | title=Practical Petrographic Classification of Limestones | journal=AAPG Bulletin | volume=43 | issue=1 | issn=1558-9153 | doi=10.1306/0BDA5C36-16BD-11D7-8645000102C1865D | pages=1–38 | url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/aapgbull/article/43/1/1/34573/Practical-Petrographic-Classification-of | access-date=2026-04-15| url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>McLane, Michael, ''Sedimentology,'' Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 238 {{ISBN|0-19-507868-3}}</ref><ref name="Flugel"> Flügel, Erik, ''Microfacies of Carbonate Rocks: Analysis, Interpretation and Application,'' Springer, pp 74-94, 2004 {{ISBN|978-3-540-22016-9}}</ref>
The term was coined in 1959 by sedimentary petrologist Robert L. Folk as part of his carbonate rock classification system.<ref name="Folk1959" /><ref name="Flugel" /> Micrite is derived from MICRocrystalline calcITE. In the Folk classification micrite is a carbonate rock dominated by fine-grained calcite. Carbonate rocks that contain fine-grained calcite in addition to allochems are named ''intramicrite'', ''oomicrite'', ''biomicrite'' or ''pelmicrite'' under the Folk classification depending on the dominant allochem.
Micrite is lime mud, carbonate of mud grade. Micrite, as a component of carbonate rocks, can occur as a matrix, as micrite envelopes around allochems, or as peloids. The origin of micrites remains a problem in carbonate sedimentology because the processes that generate them are not unique.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=Maurice E. |title=Carbonate sedimentology |date=1990 |publisher=Blackwell Scientific Publications |location=Oxford [England] |isbn=9781444314175}}</ref> Micrite can be generated through multiple processes. In lakes and some marine environments, lime mud that could become micrite can form chemically or biochemically through whiting events, whereas in warm, stratified marine waters, it may form chemically.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bialik |first1=Or M. |last2=Sisma-Ventura |first2=Guy |last3=Vogt-Vincent |first3=Noam |last4=Silverman |first4=Jacob |last5=Katz |first5=Timor |title=Role of oceanic abiotic carbonate precipitation in future atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> regulation |journal=Scientific Reports |date=24 September 2022 |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=15970 |doi=10.1038/s41598-022-20446-7|pmid=36153366 |pmc=9509385 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Alternatively, microbial process known as micritization may lead to micrite formation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kabanov |first1=P. B. |editor-first1=Richard B. |editor-first2=Alexei Y. |editor-first3=Jere H. |editor-last1=Hoover |editor-last2=Rozanov |editor-last3=Lipps |title=Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology VI |chapter=Products of micritization: evidences of microbial activity at and below the seafloor of the Upper Moscovian epicontinental basin of central European Russia |date=30 January 2003 |volume=4939 |pages=141 |doi=10.1117/12.501867|s2cid=129323579 }}</ref> Other processes which might produce micrite include the disaggregation of peloids, bioerosion, the mechanical degradation of larger carbonate grains and dissolution-reprecipitation processes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schlager |first1=Wolfgang |title=Carbonate Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy |date=2005 |location=Tulsa, OK |isbn=1565761162}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jerry Lucia |first1=F. |title=Observations on the origin of micrite crystals |journal=Marine and Petroleum Geology |date=September 2017 |volume=86 |pages=823–833 |doi=10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2017.06.039|bibcode=2017MarPG..86..823J }}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Further reading == * Folk, R. L. (1959). Practical Petrographic Classification of Limestones. ''American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin'', '''43''', 1–38. * https://www2.imperial.ac.uk/earthscienceandengineering/rocklibrary/viewglossrecord.php?Term=micrite {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724081422/https://www2.imperial.ac.uk/earthscienceandengineering/rocklibrary/viewglossrecord.php?Term=micrite |date=2014-07-24 }}
Category:Limestone {{Petrology-stub}}