Pudding stone
is a popular name applied to a conglomerate (a conglomerate is a stone that is made of other stones held together by ) that consists of distinctly rounded pebbles whose colors contrast sharply with the color of the finer-grained, often sandy, matrix or cement surrounding them. The rounded pebbles and the sharp contrast in color gives this type of conglomerate the appearance of a pudding with raisins or other.
There are different types of puddingstone, with different makeup and geographical distribution. These include:
- Michigan pudding stone - a white quartzite matrix with sharply contrasting red and brown jasper pebbles. It was transported to Michigan by glacier during the Ice age.
- Hertfordshire puddingstone, principally found in Hertfordshire, England
- Bearfort Mountain. Boonton, Rockaway Township puddingstone, is a purple puddingstone found in northern New Jersey. Geologically, it is formed of Paleozoic sandstone and quartz conglomerate.
- The puddingstone Schunemunk conglomerate is studded with pebbles of pink sandstone and white quartz.
- Roxbury puddingstone, principally found in and around Boston, Massachusetts.
- St. Joseph Island puddingstone, found in the St. Mary's River area of Northern Ontario contains red and brown pieces of jasper, a kind of quartz.
For more about pudding stones try:
http://www.dayooper.com/Puddingstones.htm
http://toadisland.tripod.com/drummond/pudmore.html#top
http://www.drummondislandchamber.com/index.php?page=puddingstone