greensand

American  

[green-sand] / ˈgrinˌsænd /

noun

1. a sandstone containing much glauconite, which gives it a greenish hue.

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greensand British  

/ ˈɡriːnˌsænd /

noun

1. an olive-green sandstone consisting mainly of quartz and glauconite

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Etymology

Origin of greensand

First recorded in 1790–1800; green + sand

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

greensand

Pockets of chalk, clay and greensand encourage an exuberant spread of botanical life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026

Nor do I see my way to the acceptance of the suggestion of Dr. Carpenter, that the red clay is the result of the decomposition of previously-formed greensand.

From Discourses Biological and Geological Essays by Thomas Henry Huxley

Similar bodies are found in the lower part of the Siluro-Cambrian, in the Quebec group at Point Levis; and there they are filled with a species of glauconite constituting a sort of greensand rock.

From The Chain of Life in Geological Time A Sketch of the Origin and Succession of Animals and Plants by Sir J. William Dawson

But now we may read in the Supplement to Lyell's 'Manual,' published in 1858, clear evidence of the existence of whales in the upper greensand, some time before the close of the secondary period.

From On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection, or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life by Charles Darwin

North and south of this ridge is the lower greensand, forming in Sussex the low hills near Heathfield, Cuckfield and Petworth, and which reaches the sea south and north of Hastings.

From Seaward Sussex The South Downs from End to End by Edric Holmes