INTRODUCTION TO ROCKS AND

IGNEOUS ROCKS
 ROCKS
WHAT ARE ROCKS?
Rocks are solid at room temperature.
They are made of grains that fit
together. Each grain in a piece of rock
is made from a mineral, which is a
chemical compound. The grains in a
rock can have different:
•colours
•shapes
•Sizes
Rocks found on the Earth's surface
come from inside the Earth, telling us
a lot about the Earth's interior. The
geological timescale and the processes
that happen occur over a long period
of time.
 TYPES OF GRAINS
Granite has
Some types of rock interlocking grains
have interlocking grains
that fit tightly
together. Granite is a
rock with interlocking
grains. Other types of
rock have rounded
grains. Sandstone is a
rock with rounded Sandstone has rounded
grains. grains
 POROUS ROCKS
Rocks with rounded grains are
more likely to absorb water than Rocks with rounded grains
are usually softer and more
rocks with interlocking grains. crumbly than rocks with
This is because the water can interlocking grains. So porous
get into the gaps between the rocks tend to be softer than
non-porous rocks.
grains. Rocks that absorb water
are described as being porous.

Rocks with rounded grains are more likely to be

Rocks with interlocking grains are more likely to be hard and non-porous crumbly and porous
CLASSIFICATION OF ROCKS

• Rocks are solid, natural masses of mineral

material that are formed at different times
and are a result of the environment present
during that time.
• There are three groups of rock:
• Igneous
• Sedimentary
• Metamorphic
ROCK CYCLE
The Earth's rocks do
not stay the same
forever. They are
continually changing
because of processes
such as weathering,
erosion and large
earth movements.
The rocks are
gradually recycled
over millions of
years. This is called
the rock cycle.
 IGNEOUS ROCKS
HOW ARE IGNEOUS ROCKS FORMED?
• Igneous rocks are formed from molten rock
(magma) that has cooled and solidified.
• The inside of the Earth is very hot - hot
enough to melt rocks. Molten (liquid)
rock is called magma. When the magma
cools enough, it solidifies and igneous rock
forms.
• When magma erupts it cools to form
volcanic landforms (lava). If magma cools
inside the Earth it forms intrusive rock,
which may later be exposed by erosion and
weathering.
WHAT ARE IGNEOUS ROCKS LIKE?
• Igneous rocks contain randomly arranged interlocking
crystals. The size of the crystals depends on how quickly
the molten magma solidified:
• magma that cools slowly will form an igneous rock with
large crystals
• lava that cools quickly will form an igneous rock with small
crystals
Examples of igneous rocks include basalt and granite.

Basalt and granite

This means that we get two main types of igneous
rock, extrusive and intrusive:
Extrusive igneous rocks form from Intrusive igneous rocks form from magma
magma that erupted onto the surface that cooled slowly, deep underground.
as lava, where it cooled quickly.

Obsidian has tiny crystals Granite has large crystals

Extrusive Intrusive

Where the magma cooled On the surface Underground

How fast the magma cooled Quickly Slowly
Size of crystals Small Large
Examples Obsidian and basalt Granite and gabbro
 CHARACTERISTICS OF IGNEOUS ROCKS
• These rocks are formed when magma solidifies.
• As the magma cools, mineral crystals will begin to
grow.
• These crystals will grow and interlock to form a
hard crystalline rock.
• Basalt is usually formed when magma solidifies on
the surface and granite hardens within the earth’s
crust.
• Igneous rocks do not contain any fossils. This is
because any fossils in the original rock will have
melted when the rock melted to form magma.