What Are Rocks

Rock is a naturally occurring solid mass composed of one or more minerals or mineraloid matter.

Rocks are Earth's building blocks, formed over vast stretches of time through various geological processes like heat, pressure, and weathering. They come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, and can be hard and solid or even loose and unconsolidated (like sand).

What Are Rocks

There are three main types of rocks: Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed from the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. Sedimentary rocks are formed from the accumulation and compaction of sediments. Metamorphic rocks are formed from the transformation of existing rocks by heat, pressure, or fluids.

Rocks are always changing. They can turn into different types through something called the rock cycle. They undergo weathering and erosion, breaking into sediments that are then compacted and cemented into sedimentary rock. With heat and pressure, they can change into metamorphic rock. Under extreme conditions, rocks may melt into magma, which solidifies into igneous rock as it cools. This cycle repeats as uplift and erosion expose the rocks once more, restarting the process.

The Earth's crust is made up of about 66% sedimentary rock. Shale is the most abundant sedimentary rock, followed by limestone and sandstone.

Meteoroids are rocks from outer space. When a meteoroid enters Earth's atmosphere, it heats up and glows, becoming a meteor. If a meteor reaches the ground, it is called a meteorite.

Read also: 
The Difference Between Rocks and Minerals
Facts About Rocks