Now that minerals are a little clearer (hopefully) we can move on to rocks. Now
rocks have a lot more basic purposes than minerals including cement, building
materials, decorative materials and of course, paperweights. The way you
identify minerals is by certain characteristics like cleavage and hardness.
Identifying a rock is a lot different than that. It is not really harder or
easier, just different. Lets start of this page with the basic definition of a
rock, then go into some rock basics. Then from here we will move on to the three
main types of rocks; igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.
Definition of a Rock - A naturally formed
aggregate of mineral matter constituting a significant part of the
earth's crust. (www.dictionary.com)
- {essentially a rock is a mineral or a bunch of minerals mashed into
one lump and distorted from a pure mineral state.}
There are 3 main types of rocks. Click on the link to go
to their respective websites.
The Rock Cycle
Rock Breakdown
Igneous Rocks - Are formed from
the solidification of liquid rock, also known as magma or lava.
Sedimentary Rocks - Are
formed from the breakdown of others rocks and the cementation of those particles
from other rocks and animals
Metamorphic Rocks - Are formed
from the alteration of any other rock (including other metamorphic
rocks) due to increased heat and pressure
Dinojim.com is
a member of the DinoJim Consortium of websites and materials. It is owned and operated by Jim Lehane. Unless cited, images and files found
on this site have been taken or created by Jim Lehane. Any use of these
images should be cited appropriately. If you would like larger copies of
the images than those provided on the site you can send me an e-mail,
and we will make arrangements. Thanks for your cooperation.
The DinoJim logo is a
Styracosaurusskull designed and created by me, based off of a
fossil found at the American Museum of Natural History.
The background image is an outline of a
Shuvosaurus skull, which was created by me for my Master's Thesis.
