Cementation

In geology, cementation is the process of deposition of dissolved minerals in the interstices of rocks, and is an important factor in the consolidation of coarse-grained elastic rocks such as sandstones and conglomerates or breccias. Cementation is continually going on in the ground water zone, so much so that the term "zone of cementation" is sometimes used interchangeably. Cementation may occur in fissures or other openings of the rocks and in time all such spaces will be closed completely.

In metallurgy, cementation is the process by which one substance is caused to penetrate and change the character of another by the action of heat below the melting points of the substances. See: carburizing, nitriding, calorizing, sherardizing, chromizing and siliconizing.