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 ...

Minerals are typically formed when molten rock, or magma, cools, or by separating out of mineral-rich water, such as that in underground caverns. In general, mineral particles are small ...

Primary minerals form at elevated temperatures from cooling magma during the original solidification of rock or during metamorphism, and they are usually derived from igneous and metamorphic rocks ...

Some minerals in rocks and organic matter (e.g., wood, bones, and shells) can contain radioactive isotopes. The abundances of parent and daughter isotopes in a sample can be measured and used to ...

The Jack Hills, in Western Australia, contain tiny traces of rock that are older than the hills themselves. The 50-mile-long (80 kilometers) ridge contains crystallized minerals called zircons ...

Petrology is the study of rocks - igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary - and the processes that form and transform them. Mineralogy is the study of the chemistry, crystal structure and physical ...

Some gemstones are also minerals, such as that classic rock diamond, but there are some gemstones that aren’t classed as minerals. A fancy example is pearl, a popular choice in the jewelry industry.

There would be no bright and colorful fireworks without rocks and minerals. A firework is produced by launching a shell containing fuel and a color mix high into the air, where it explodes.

David Bressan is a geologist who covers curiosities about Earth. Rocks and minerals contribute essential raw materials for any civilization, and in a technological society minerals (and the rare ...