Rock Types and Uses
Types of Rocks
Igneous Rocks
Metamorphic Rocks
Sedimentary Rocks
Sedimentary Rocks
How They are Made
• Wind and water break down the earth
• Bits of earth settle in lakes and rivers
• Layers are formed and build up
• Pressure and time turn the layers to rock
Types of Sedimentary Rocks
Sandstone
Shale
Limestone
Conglomerate
Metamorphic Rocks
What are They?
• Rocks that have changed
• They were once igneous or sedimentary
• Pressure and heat changed the rocks
Types of Metamorphic Rocks
Schist
Gneiss
Igneous Rocks
What are They?
• Fire Rocks
• Formed underground by trapped, cooled magma
• Formed above ground when volcanoes erupt and magma cools
Types of Igneous Rocks
Basalt
Granite
Pumice
Rocks Have Been Used
For Many Years
and
For Many Things
Rocks
Rock group
Formed
Examples and
locations
Uses
When lava or magma Granite: Wicklow
cooled and hardened Mountains
in or on the crust
Basalt: Giants
Causeway, Co.
Antrim
Granite: worktops
Basalt: in tarmac to
surface roads etc
Sedimentary
The compressed bits
of plants, animals or
other rocks
Limestone: central
plain of Ireland
Sandstone:
Comeragh mtns,
Waterford/Cork
Limestone: front of
buildings, cement
Sandstone: cement
blocks
Metamorphic
Other rocks changed
by heat or pressure
Marble: Co.Kilkenny
Quartzite: Mt.
Errigal, Donegal
Marble: fireplaces and
headstones
Quartz: jewellery and
road surfaces
Igneous