There are over 5,000 known types of minerals. Just a few minerals make up most of the rocks we see, though: feldspars, amphiboles, quartz, olivine, garnet, micas, calcite, and pyroxenes.

There are lots of types of rock and each type has different properties and uses. For example, some are strong and hard but others are soft and sandy. Some rocks are harder than others. For example ...

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to ...

The characteristics of the rocks that hold fossils can be as informative as the fossils themselves. There are three main types of rock: igneous rock, metamorphic rock, and sedimentary rock. Almost all ...

Third, magnetism in rocks can be used to estimate the age of a fossil site. This method uses the orientation of the Earth's magnetic field, which has changed through time, to determine ages for ...

A new high-resolution computer model shows rocks that are colder, or have a different composition, in Earth's mantle where ...

Old Rock Day on January 7 honors the significance of rocks, fossils, and Earth's geological history. Discover ways to ...

Rocks can experience squeezing, stretching, or pushing in different directions in response to stress. This response depends on the type of stress, the rate at which it is applied, the ...