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Earth Science

Questions tagged [rocks]

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Questions about rock types, formation, chemistry, and physics.

161 questions
Newest Active Bountied Unanswered
6 votes
4 answers
2k views

I've recently developed an interest in rock weathering and I'm curious about the smallest possible particle a rock can form. I understand it can turn into ions through a process, but can it break down ...
Nat's user avatar
  • 163
0 votes
1 answer
90 views

I found this rock on the surface of the soil while walking in a desert area. It weighs 44 grams, is strongly magnetic, and feels heavier than a typical rock of the same size. I performed a streak test ...
radman's user avatar
  • 1
4 votes
1 answer
303 views

What is the name of the brain or turtle shell pattern on the sandstone in this picture? Why does it form, and how common is it? I've noticed similar patterns on boulders in Fontainebleau, France, and ...
Adrian's user avatar
  • 141
2 votes
2 answers
134 views

The rims of rock pools such as those at the Kuang Si Falls in Laos are almost level. Is it a natural process, or man-made? If natural, how does it arise and why does it happen here but not at other ...
Gnubie's user avatar
  • 133
0 votes
3 answers
272 views

I thought of this question while rock climbing a canyon wall that had many rocks that were only loosely attached to the wall such that you could get them to slightly resonate when gently tapping them. ...
Mike's user avatar
  • 111
2 votes
2 answers
216 views

There are many rocks (used in countertops for example) that resemble granite and can be sold as granite, but are not white or pink or slightly purple like most actual granite is. Gabbro is another ...
CPlus's user avatar
  • 121
1 vote
1 answer
240 views

After being ground down and eroded into powder on the surface, it's hard for me to see how gold dust collects again after being subducted and mixed with melted rocks by convection. I know that gold is ...
Miss Understands's user avatar
  • 1
3 votes
2 answers
632 views

I understand that basalt is darker in color and has less silica but do not understand how these reflect the underlying minerals/mineraloids (if mineraloids are even present in these rocks)???
user394522's user avatar
  • 65
1 vote
1 answer
138 views

I was casually browsing the google earth street view map today. And I noticed strange cavities in a rock wall on Henderson Island, a coral island in the South Pacific. What could have caused this to ...
Thomas Peng's user avatar
  • 111
2 votes
1 answer
121 views

When surveying penguin colonies on subantarctic Antipodes Island, we found a cave that features a strange rock formation: The formation does not appear to be particularly exposed to the elements so ...
Tomm's user avatar
  • 121
2 votes
2 answers
145 views

I'm not sure where to ask this question, but I thought there might be people on this list who are familiar with rocks and minerals. I've been thinking about the first smelting of ore (which seems to ...
David Gudeman's user avatar
  • 121
0 votes
0 answers
95 views

I recently came across some intriguing specimens near a lake shore in Texas and am seeking your expertise to help identify them. The objects have a few characteristics that lead me to believe they ...
user3424230's user avatar
  • 33
13 votes
1 answer
3k views

If lava is nothing but magma breaking through the earth's surface, then why is basalt more dense than granite? I understand that something happens during the cooling process, but cannot find any ...
Koushik Sarkar's user avatar
  • 261
1 vote
1 answer
151 views

Near an old fire trail, I found a single fist-size igneous rock that I identified (as an amateur geologist) as belonging to a formation that is not known of in the area but is known to occur in the ...
Tom P's user avatar
  • 133
1 vote
1 answer
539 views

Are mud cracks formed during rock formation or after the rock is completely formed?
Flora561's user avatar
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