What Is Bedrock Made Out Of?

Bedrock outcropping

The earth's crust is made of bedrock, which you can see in outcroppings -- pieces of bedrock that have thrust their way to the surface. Outcroppings are not loose stones; they are still attached to the earth.

Bedrock is not the same everywhere

Earth

Bedrock may be composed of various elements from region to region. There are three major groups of bedrock: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous, each made of different sets of minerals.

Sedimentary comes from the word for "sit" in Latin, metamorphic comes from the word for "change" in Greek, igneous comes form the word for "fire" in Latin.

Rocks are made of minerals

Minerals

All rocks are made of minerals, including quartz, olivine, garnet, talc, calcite, and dolomite, among many others. Minerals are made of elements through chemical bonding and breaking processes, including crystallization.

Sedimentary rock

Sedimentary Rock

Sedimentary rock, one of the three major groups of bedrock, is formed when accumulated bits of broken rock, plant, and animal materials carried by wind and water settle and then compact over thousands of years into cemented layers.

Metamorphic rock

Metramorphic outcropping

Metamorphic rock forms when pre-existing rocks, exposed to heat and pressure -- often from being buried -- change chemically. The heat and pressure cause some but not all of their chemical bonds to break and re-form, so that the old igneous or sedimentary rock becomes a new metamorphosed rock.

Igneous rock

Igneous rock

Igneous rocks form from cooling magma (liquid rock under the surface of the earth) and lava (liquid rock that leaks onto the surface of the earth).

References

• University College of London Department of Earth Sciences: Rocks
• Humbolt State University: Common Minerals in Rocks
• University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point: The Physical Environment