Some Notes About Rock Names

Abstract

There are literally hundreds of names for different types of rocks. This chapter introduces just those few that you will come across while reading this book. To begin with, rocks are classed into three main groups: sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic. Sedimentary rocks are formed of material that has been deposited by some kind of physical medium such as water, ice or wind, or by chemical precipitation, and then hardened by becoming cemented or compressed. The main sedimentary rocks that we will come across in this book are sandstone, which is formed of cemented grains of sand, and limestone, which is formed of the chemical calcium carbonate.