secondary (chemical) sedimentary structure consisting of a series of relatively small, alternating, interlocked, toothlike columns of stone; it is common in limestone, marble, and similar rock. The individual columns never appear singly but occur as a succession of interpenetrations that in cross section make a zigzag suture across the face of the stone. They are generally marked by concentrations of insoluble constituents such as clay minerals, iron oxides, or organic matter. There has been much controversy over their origin, but geologists generally submit to the preponderance of field evidence supporting the theory of secondary origin; that is, that stylolites result from differential chemical solution by groundwater circulating through semiconsolidated or consolidated, hardened rock.