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All rocks are made of 2 or more minerals, but minerals are not made of rocks.
For thousands, even millions of years, little pieces of our earth have been eroded--broken down and worn away by wind and water. These little bits of our earth are washed downstream where they settle to the bottom of the rivers, lakes, and oceans. Layer after layer of eroded earth is deposited on top of each. These layers are pressed down more and more through time, until the bottom layers slowly turn into rock. Lime stone Gypsum Schist Conglomerate Sand stone Scoria Gneiss Obsedian Shale Granit Pumice
Description Composition: Sand grains cemented together Specific Gravity: 2.5 High porosity Composition: Calcite and sometimes fossils React with acid produce Carbon dioxide Grains : very small Compacted mud No reaction with acid Swell in water(volume increase when dip) Layers are present at end, Fine texture Specific Gravity: 2.4
Sandstone
Red or Gray
Limestone
White to Gray
Shale
Dark Gray
Conglomerate
Rounded cobbles and pebbles cemented together if it is not If not rounded then it would be BRECCIA React with acids Different Colors Specific Gravity: 2.32.7 Texture : Fine
Gypsum
Specific Gravity: Gray and white React with acid Texture: Fine
2.5
Rock Salt
White or pink
METAMORPHIC ROCKS Heat and pressure can change many things. They can even change rocks. The name for rocks that has been changed is metamorphic (met uh MOR fik) rocks. Metamorphic comes from Greek words meaning "change" and "form". Metamorphic rocks form deep in the earth where high temperature, great pressure, and chemical reactions cause one type of rock to change into another type of rock. Metamorphic rocks begin to form at 12-16 kilometers beneath the earth's surface. They begin changing at temperatures of 100 degrees Celsius to 800 degrees Celsius. If you squeeze and heat a rock for a few million years, it can turn into a new kind of rock. Where does the heat come from? The heat comes from magma. Where does the pressure come from? The pressure comes from layers of rock piled on top of layers and layers of rock. The layers on the bottom get squeezed. The thicker the layers, the more pressure there is.
Texture Foliated
Grain size Very fine Fine Med coarse Med coarse Fine to coarse
Marble
Quartzite
Fine to coarse
Description Excellent rock cleavage, smooth dull surfaces Color: dark gray to black Breaks along wavy surfaces, glossy sheen Micaceous minerals dominate, scaly foliation Compositional banding from segregation of minerals Pink or gray in color Interlocking calcite crystals, will not scratch glass, impurities can produce various shades, light in color Fused quartz grains, massive, very hard (can scratch glass), Fe impurity can produce reddish shades.
Parent rock Shale Slate Phyllite Schist, granite, or volcanic rocks Limestone
Nonfoliated
Quartz sandstone
IGNEOUS ROCKS The oldest type of all rocks is the igneous rock (IG nee us). The word "igneous" comes from a Greek word for fire. Deep inside the earth, the temperature is very high and the minerals there are in liquid form called magma. As the magma pushes towards the earth's surface, it starts to cool and turns into solid igneous rock. All igneous rocks do not cool the same way. That is why they do not look all the same. Some cool slowly, deep under the earth's surface. These are called intrusive igneous rocks. The slow cooling formed rocks with large crystals. Granite is an example of a rock that cooled slowly and has large crystals. Other rocks formed when the magma erupted from a volcano or reached the earth's surface through long cracks. Magma is called lava when it reaches the earth's surface. Lava cools quickly and forms rocks with small crystals. They are called extrusive igneous rocks. Basalt is an example of this type of rock. Obsidian is an example of another extrusive igneous rock that cooled so fast that it has no crystals and looks like shiny, black glass. Below is a summary of the major characteristics of igneous rocks. Classified by texture and composition Rarely reacts with acid Usually has no layering Usually made of two or more minerals May be light or dark colored Usually made of mineral crystals of different sizes Sometimes has openings or glass fibers May be fine-grained or glassy (extrusive)
Texture
Granite
Pink/Gray
Intrusive
Gabbro
Intrusive
Rhyolite
Extrusive
Basalt
Extrusive
Obsidian
Scoria
Dark Colored
Extrusive
pumice