Grain size Grain size Grain size (or particle size) is the diameter of individual grains of sediment, or the lithified particles in clastic rocks. The term may also be applied to other granular materials. This is different from the crystallite size, which refers to the size of a single crystal inside a particle or grain. A single grain can be composed of several crystals. Granular material can range from very small colloidal particles, through clay, silt, sand, gravel, and cobbles, to boulders. Size ranges define limits of classes that are given names in the Wentworth scale (or Udden–Wentworth scale) used in the
Polish Soil Classification effect of specific groups of soil forming processes. Soil types are divided into subtypes. Geological origin of bedrock described by "rodzaj gleby" describes geological origin and properties of material from which the soil was formed. It is not the same as soil family from USDA Soil Taxonomy. Examples can be: granitoid, basalt, amphibolite, sandstone, limestone (with specified period of formation), gypsum, glacial till, sandur sand, loess and others. Sizes of soil particles and texture of soil material are very similar to USDA classification. It makes possible correlating results of particle size analysis of soils described using USDA and Polish Soil