Sandstone: A Nonrenewable Resource

Why is sandstone classified as a nonrenewable resource?

Sandstone takes many thousands of years to form.

Sandstone is not composed of natural rock materials.

Sandstone is not a very useful resource to humans.

Sandstone is no longer being formed on Earth.

Answer:

Sandstone takes many thousands of years to form.

Explanation:

A renewable resource is a resource that can be replenished within a period of human life, such as wind and water which can be replaced almost immediately after usage. On the other hand, a nonrenewable resource is a resource that cannot be replenished within a human lifetime. These resources take roughly thousands or millions of years to form. An example of a nonrenewable resource is sandstone.

Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock formed from the degradation, cementation, and compaction of sediments. It is mainly composed of sand-sized mineral particles. The sediments that form this rock are produced due to weathering and erosional degradation of rock particles.

Generally, the process of sandstone formation takes thousands or millions of years to complete. It involves the stages of weathering of preexisting rocks, transport of the weathered materials, deposition, compaction, and finally, cementation to form sandstone. Each of these stages usually takes thousands or millions of years to occur.