http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinlabar/90632001/

Rock Basalt Granite Sandstone Limestone Slate Marble

Type of rock

Characteristics/Appearance

Use

Igneous Sedimentary Metamorphic

•Formed by the cooling of molten magma.

•Very hard.

•Have a crystalline structure.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14508691@N08/3824821248/

• Fine grain, interlocking crystals.

• Usually black or grey.

• Contains vesicles – bubbles of air trapped during the cooling of

lava.

• Used in cobblestones, railway ballast , road construction.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/molas/446346958/

• Coarse grain, interlocking crystals.

• Usually has more light coloured crystals than dark, for example, glassy quartz

or shiny mica.

• Used in paving, work surfaces, gravestones.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brewbooks/212485689/

•Formed by the deposition of grains by ice, water and wind.

•Found in layers, called beds or strata.

•Often contain fossils.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aedos/3281843352/sizes/l/

• Made up of sand grains.

• Formed by the deposition of sediments by wind, rivers, sea or

ice- so there are many forms.

• Later cemented together by minerals within ground water.

• Very hard and chemically resistant, as they are made up of

quartz grains.

• Used in building sand, paving, glass making.

• Largely made up of calcite (calcium carbonate).

• Formed from the remnants of ancient shellfish and invertebrates,

think Old Harry and Coccoliths.

• Will react with hydrochloric acid.

• Used in construction, neutralising acidic soils, steel making.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Limestone_cropping.jpg

• Were once igneous or sedimentary rocks, but have metamorphosed by heat and

pressure within the Earth’s crust.

• Crystalline and often have a squashed or (foliated or banded)

texture.

http://www.geologyrocks.co.uk/images/quartzite_from_the_phyllite_quartzite_series

• Fine grained interlocking crystals lie flat in the same direction- cleavage

direction.

• Will split easily along the cleavage direction.

• Used in gravestones, flooring, snooker tables.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Slate_Macro_1.JPG

• Metamorphosed limestone (calcium carbonate).

• Will react with hydrochloric acid.

• Medium grained interlocking crystals and no alignment.

• Used in fireplaces, work surfaces, ornaments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MarbleUSGOV.jpg

http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/gsl/site/GSL/lang/en/page3892.html

Melting

Crystallisation of magma

Igneous rocks

Uplift

Weathering Erosion and transport Deposition of sediment

Burial and compaction

Sedimentary rocks

Metamorphism

Metamorphic rocks

Rock type

Process

Melting

Crystallisation of magma

Igneous rocks

Uplift

Weathering Erosion and transport Deposition of sediment

Burial and compaction

Sedimentary rocks

Metamorphism

Metamorphic rocks

Rocks become liquid from the intense heat of the

mantle.

Magma cools to form igneous rocks.

Tectonic processes lift the igneous rocks to the

surface.

Rocks are weathered.Rocks are eroded and transported.

Rocks are deposited and laid down in layers.Previous deposits are

buried by new ones, the weight of these compacts the layers, other minerals help bind them together-

cementation.

Rocks are under intense heat and pressure due to

tectonic processes, minerals within them react to each other- change the

texture and composition of the rock.

Melting

Crystallisation of magma

Igneous rocks

Uplift

Weathering Erosion and transport Deposition of sediment

Burial and compaction

Sedimentary rocks

Metamorphism

Metamorphic rocks

Rock type

Process