Facts About Sedimentary Rock

Have you ever seen a rock and thought about how hard it is, how it will be formed, and if there is any use for it? So many questions come to mind whenever we see the rock.

But don't worry, in this article, you will get the answer to every question related to the rock, actually a special type of rock which is sedimentary. In this article, we will learn more about what are sediments, information about sedimentary rocks, how it is formed, what are its uses, and some of the types of sedimentary rock. Let's get started and learn about sedimentary rock.

Rocks

What is Rock?

Rocks are the natural substance they are a mixture of solid crystals of various minerals that have been fused together into a solid piece. 

Rock Cycle

Rock is changing constantly, and it takes millions of years to change in this we will discuss how a rock can change from an igneous to a sedimentary to a metamorphic rock over time.

Rock Cycle

• Volcanoes send melted rock or magma to the earth's surface, and when it cools down, it becomes an igneous rock. 

• Then many climate changes, natural events and rivers break it into small pieces of sediment.

• And over the years, sediment builds up and hardens, and so the sediment rock is formed. 

• Then slowly, this sediment rock gets covered with other rocks and ends up deep inside the earth's crust. 

• And when the pressure and heat become high enough, that will metamorphose into a metamorphic rock. 

• And then, the cycle starts repeatedly and creates different types of rock.

Types of Rock

So with the help of the rock cycle, we understood how the rock changes its form and becomes a new type of rock.

But in actuality, how many types of rock are there a question? Let’s see about sedimentary rock types. So, there are mainly three types of rock formed in the rock cycle they are:

• Igneous rock

• Sedimentary Rock

• Metamorphic rock

Types of Rocks

But today, in this article, we will only learn about sedimentary rock.

How Sedimentary Rocks are Formed?

Sedimentary rocks are formed from the million-year deposit of pre-existing rocks or pieces of once-living organisms that gathered on the earth's surface millions of years ago.

Sedimentary rocks are made from deposits on the earth's surface. And as it is made from deposits, we can easily identify it because it comprises layers.

What is Sedimentation? 

It's the deposition of solid material. They are formed when any piece of rock is loosened by weathering. Then the sediment is buried deeply and becomes cemented or compacted, giving a fork to sedimentary rock. It consists of rock minerals and the remains of plants and animals.

Uses of Sedimentation Rock

There are many uses for sedimentary rock. Let's discuss some of them.

• It is used in construction materials.

• Coal is a form of Sedimentary Rock which is used as a fuel.

• The best fossil scientists use this rock to provide historical evidence of past events.

Facts About Sedimentary Rock

Some facts and information about sedimentary rocks are as follows:

• The oldest sedimentary rock which is found in Greenland, is about 3.9 billion years old. 

• This rock often contains the fossils of plants and animals which were millions of years old. 

• Clay is also a sedimentary material.

• You can easily recognise it because it comprises layers.

• Sedimentary rocks cover 75-80%  of Earth's area, but it only makes up 5% of earth's crust.

Summary

So in this article, we learned about many things like what rocks are, how they are formed, how many types of rocks are present, and what the rock cycle is. We also learned about igneous Sedimentary and metamorphic rock.

Then we particularly talked about sedimentary rock. We learned how it is formed, what sedimentation is, and how we use sedimentary rock in our everyday life. We learned how we could easily recognise it and discussed many interesting facts related to Sedimentary Rock. We hope you enjoyed reading this article. In case of any other doubts, feel free to ask in the comments.