Rocks- A rock is made up of 2 or more minerals.

You need minerals to make rocks, but you don't need

rocks to make minerals. All rocks are made of minerals.

Minerals- A mineral is composed of the same substance throughout. There are about 3000 different
minerals in the world. Minerals are made of chemicals - either a single chemical or a combination of
chemicals.There are 103 known chemical elements. Minerals are sorted into 8 groups.

Difference between rock and mineral- A rock is made up of 2 or more minerals, whereas a mineral is
composed of the same substance throughout.

Basalt is a dark-colored, fine-grained, igneous rock composed mainly of plagioclase and pyroxene
minerals. It most commonly forms as an extrusive rock, such as a lava flow, but can also form in small
intrusive bodies, such as an igneous dike or a thin sill. It has a composition similar to gabbro. The
difference between basalt and gabbro is that basalt is a fine-grained rock while gabbro is a coarse-
grained rock

Granite is a light-colored igneous rock with grains large enough to be visible with the unaided eye. It
forms from the slow crystallization of magma below Earth’s surface. Granite is composed mainly of quartz
and feldspar with minor amounts of mica, amphiboles and other minerals. This mineral composition
usually gives granite a red, pink, gray or white color with dark mineral grains visible throughout the rock.

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed primarily of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the form of the
mineral calcite. It most commonly forms in clear, warm, shallow marine waters. It is usually an organic
sedimentary rock that forms from the accumulation of shell, coral, algal and fecal debris. It can also be a
chemical sedimentary rock formed by the precipitation of calcium carbonate from lake or ocean water.

Marble is a metamorphic rock that forms when limestone is subjected to the heat and pressure of
metamorphism. It is composed primarily of the mineral calcite (CaCO3) and usually contains other
minerals such as: clay minerals, micas, quartz,pyrite, iron oxides and graphite. Under the conditions of
metamorphism the calcite in the limestone recrystallizes to form a rock that is a mass of interlocking
calcite crystals. A related rock, dolomitic marble, is produced when dolostone is subjected to heat and
pressure.

Schist is metamorphic rock with well developed foliation. It often contains significant amounts of mica
which allow the rock to split into thin pieces. It is a rock of intermediate metamorphic grade between
phyllite and gneiss.

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed of sand-sized grains of mineral, rock or organic material. It
also contains a cementing material that binds the sand grains together and may contain a matrix of silt-
or clay-size particles that occupy the spaces between the sand grains.

Sandstone is one of the most common types of sedimentary rock and is found in sedimentary basins
throughout the world. It is often mined for use as a construction material or as a raw material used in
manufacturing. In the subsurface, sandstone often serves as an aquifer for groundwater or as a reservoir
for oil and natural gas.

Granite is great stuff! Not only is it my personal favorite, it is without a doubt the most common rock
type on the continental land masses. Yosemite Valley in the Sierra Nevada and Mt. Rushmore are two
notable examples of granitic rocks. But granitic "basement rock" can be found just about everywhere east
of the Rockies if you're willing to dig through the dirt and sedimentary rocks at the surface. Granite is
intrusive, which means that the magma was trapped deep in the crust, and probably took a very long
time to cool down enough to crystallize into solid rock. This allows the minerals which form plenty of
time to grow, and results in a coarse-textured rock in which individual mineral grains are easily visible.

Granite is the ultimate silicate rock. As discussed elsewhere in greater detail, on average oxygen and
silicon account for 75% of the earth's crust. The remaining 25% is split among several other elements,
with aluminum and potassium contributing the most to the formation of the continental granitic rocks.
Relatively small amounts of iron and magnesium occur, but since they have generally higher densities it's
not surprising that there isn't very much in the granite. Due to the process of differentiation, most of the
heavier elements are moving towards the core of the earth, allowing the silicon and oxygen to accumulate
on the surface. And accumulate it has. Enough granitic "scum" has differentiated to the surface to cover
25% to 30% of the earth with the good stuff. We call this purified material felsic because of the relatively
high percentage of silica and oxygen.

Basalt is extrusive. The magma from which it cools breaks through the crust of the earth and erupts on
the surface. We call these types of events volcanic eruptions, and there are several main types.
The volcanoes that make basalt are very common, and tend to form long and persistent zones of rifting in
nearly all of the ocean basins. We now believe that these undersea volcanic areas represent
huge spreading ridges where the earth's crust is separating. It's a lot like a cut on your arm, which will
bleed until a scab forms. Basaltic magma is like the blood of the earth - it's what comes out when the
earth's skin is cut the whole way through. As an eruption ends, the basalt "scab" heals the wound in the
crust, and the earth adds some new seafloor crust. Because the magma comes out of the earth (and often
into water) it cools very quickly, and the minerals have very little opportunity to grow. Basalt is
commonly very fine grained, and it is nearly impossible to see individual minerals without magnification.

Basalt is considered a mafic silicate rock. Among other characteristics, mafic minerals and rocks are
generally dark in color and high in specific gravity. This is in large part due to the amount of iron,
magnesium, and several other relatively heavy elements which "contaminate" the silica and oxygen. But
this heavy stuff really isn't happy near the surface, and will take any opportunity it can to head for deeper
levels. The trick is to heat the basalt back up again so it can melt and give the iron another shot at the
core. It wants to be there, and heat is the key which unlocks the door.

The larger crystals in granite tell us that it formed deep underground. Geologists call such rocks
intrusive igneous rocks. Insulated from the coolness of earth's surface, the molten rock (magma--molten
rock underground) cooled slowly and the crystals had time to grow large. Basalt flowed onto earth's
surface as molten rock (lava--molten rock on earth's surface) and there it cooled quickly, so the crystals
had little time to grow. Geologists call such rocks extrusive igneous rocks.

There are other differences between granites and basalts, but I think speed of cooling, related to where
the molten rock cooled, answers your question.

Limestone is the sedimentary protolith (parent rock) of the metamorphic marble rock. So marble comes
from limestone.

Limestone is primarily calcite and aragonite. Marble is primarily calcite with other impurities depending
on the protolith.

Compare the two side by side with the links below. Marble, formed from limestone with heat and
pressure over years in the earth's crust. These pressure or forces cause the limestone to change in
texture and makeup. The process is called recrystallization. Fossilized materials in the limestone, along
with its original carbonate minerals, recrystallize and form large, coarse grains of calcite.

Impurities present in the limestone during the recrystallization period affect the mineral composition of
the marble which is formed. At relatively low temperatures, silica impurities in the carbonate minerals
form masses of chert or crystals of quartz. At higher temperatures, the silica reacts with the carbonates to
produce diopside and forsterite. At a very high temperatures, rarer calcium minerals, such as larnite,
monticellite, and rankinite, forms in the marble. If water is present, serpentine, talc, and certain other
hydrous minerals may be produced. The presence of iron, alumina, and silica may result in the formation
of hematite and magnetite.

The minerals that result from impurities give marble a wide variety of colors. The purest calcite marble is
white in colour. Marble containing hematite are reddish in color. Marble that has limonite is yellow, and
marble with serpentine is green in colour.

Marble does not split easily into sheets of equal size and must be mined with care. The rock may shatter if
explosives are used. Blocks of marble are mined with channeling machines, which cut grooves and holes
in the rock. Miners outline a block of marble with rows of grooves and holes. They then drive wedges into
the openings and separate the block from the surrounding rock. The blocks are cut with saws to the
desired shape and size.