Coastal & Marine Geology InfoBank

USGS CMG InfoBank: Rocks Are Aggregates of Minerals


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Comment: 02:41 - 03:23 (00:42)

Source: Annenberg/CPB Resources - Earth Revealed - 12. Minerals: The Materials of Earth

Keywords: rock, mineral, "granitic rock", orthoclase, quartz, plagioclase, basalt, pyroxene, olivine

Our transcription: Rocks are simply aggregates of mineral grains.

Many granitic rocks, for example, contain mostly orthoclase, quartz, and plagioclase.

While basalt typically contains plagioclase, pyroxene and olivine.

And so apart from their value as components of everyday objects, minerals are also useful tools for classifying rocks.

The minerals contained in rocks provide hidden clues about the conditions under which the rocks formed.

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Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices
U.S. Department of the Interior \| U.S. Geological Survey URL: http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/infobank/programs/html/school/moviepage/11.01.03.html Page Contact: InfoBank staff Page Last Modified: Tue Dec 16 06:30:51 PST 2008 (wcs)