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4.1: What Is A Rock?

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    27105

    • Chris Johnson, Callan Bentley, Karla Panchuk, Matt Affolter, Karen Layou, Shelley Jaye, Russ Kohrs, Paul Inkenbrandt, Cam Mosher, Brian Ricketts, and Charlene Estrada
    • Maricopa Open Digital Press
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    A rock is a solid mass of geological materials. Geological materials include individual mineral crystals, inorganic non-mineral solids like glass, pieces broken from other rocks, and even fossils. The geological materials in rocks may be inorganic, but they can also include organic materials such as the partially decomposed plant matter preserved in coal. A rock can be composed of only one type of geological material or mineral, but many are composed of several types (Figure below).

    Image contains: Granite, a rock made of minerals quartz, potassium feldspar, and biotite. Quartzite, a rock made of tiny quartz crystals. A crystal of the mineral quartz, a crystal of the mineral potassium feldspar, and a rock of biotite crystals.
    Figure Rocks versus minerals. Rocks in the image are made up of crystals of one or more minerals. Source: Karla Panchuk (2021), CC BY-NC-SA. Photographs by R. Weller/ Cochise College and James St. John. Click for attributions.

    Concept Check: Rock or Mineral?

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    Three Main Types of Rock

    Rocks are grouped into three main categories based on how they form. Igneous rocks form when melted rock cools and solidifies. Sedimentary rocks form when fragments of other rocks are buried, compressed, and cemented together; or when minerals precipitate from solution, either directly or with the help of an organism. Metamorphic rocks form when heat and pressure alter a pre-existing rock. Although temperatures can be very high, metamorphism does not involve the melting of the rock.

    Do You Know Your Rock Types?

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    This page titled 4.1: What Is A Rock? is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Chris Johnson, Callan Bentley, Karla Panchuk, Matt Affolter, Karen Layou, Shelley Jaye, Russ Kohrs, Paul Inkenbrandt, Cam Mosher, Brian Ricketts, and Charlene Estrada (Maricopa Open Digital Press) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.