"Danny D." wrote in message
...
On Tue, 6 Sep 2016 21:42:05 -0500, Dean Hoffman wrote:

The way it works, technically, is that Rock is the big stuff that weathers
to stones, which is the small stuff, and, over time, stones weather to
"soil" which is a complex layered in-situ environment.

Sort of. The size - NOT composition - of the weathered rock determines its
nomenclature...
bouldercobblegravelsandsiltclaycolloid
Colloquially, the last three would be "mud". I would characterize what you
have as coarse soil.

The fact that composition does not enter into it means that "sand" can be
ANY mineral, not just quartz.

If you want to get a better idea of the size ratio in what you have, put
some of it in a glass jar, add 4-5 times as much water, stit it up and let
it settle for a couple of days. The "rocks" and sand will be fairly
obvious. If you want to get an idea of the silt - top layer - use a pipette
or turkey baster to suck up a bit from the top layer and see how it feels
between your teeth. Pretty gritty=coarse silt, gritty but not all that
much=medium silt, barely gritty=fine silt.