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Rocks form the Earth's outer solid layer, the crust, and most of its interior, except for the liquid outer core and pockets of magma in the asthenosphere. The study of rocks involves multiple subdisciplines of geology, including petrology and mineralogy .
Primitive rocks are common on the surfaces of many asteroids, and the majority of meteorites are primitive rocks." [1]: 145 Widmanstätten pattern in an iron-rich meteorite. An example of a primitive rock is the achondritic iron-nickel octahedrite mineral seen in the Widmanstätten pattern that is found in a number of iron-rich meteorites.
It is the fundamental unit of lithostratigraphy, the study of strata or rock layers. [1] [2] A formation must be large enough that it can be mapped at the surface or traced in the subsurface. Formations are otherwise not defined by the thickness of their rock strata, which can vary widely. They are usually, but not universally, tabular in form.
Rocks formations and the Dedo de Deus (God's Finger) peak in the background, Serra dos Órgãos National Park, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil Raouché or Pigeons' Rock in Beirut, Lebanon Druid Arch, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, US View of Meteora, Greece Rock formations in Ongamira Valley, Sierras de Córdoba, Argentina Belogradchik Rocks, Balkan Mountains, Bulgaria "Jaws", an erosional fin ...
Solidified lava flow in Hawaii Sedimentary layers in Badlands National Park, South Dakota Metamorphic rock, Nunavut, Canada. Geology (from Ancient Greek γῆ (gê) 'earth' and λoγία () 'study of, discourse') [1] [2] is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. [3]
Any unique combination of chemical composition, mineralogy, grain size, texture, or other distinguishing characteristics can describe a rock type. Additionally, different classification systems exist for each major type of rock. [1] There are three major types of rock: igneous rock, metamorphic rock, and sedimentary rock.
Igneous and metamorphic rocks make up 90–95% of the top 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) of the Earth's crust by volume. [1] Igneous rocks form about 15% of the Earth's current land surface. [note 1] Most of the Earth's oceanic crust is made of igneous rock. Igneous rocks are also geologically important because:
Uluru (Ayers Rock) is a large sandstone formation in Northern Territory, Australia.. Sedimentary rocks can be subdivided into four groups based on the processes responsible for their formation: clastic sedimentary rocks, biochemical (biogenic) sedimentary rocks, chemical sedimentary rocks, and a fourth category for "other" sedimentary rocks formed by impacts, volcanism, and other minor processes.