Rocks And Minerals (eye Wonder)

Eye Wonder LONDON, NEW YORK, MUNICH, MELBOURNE, and DELHI Written and edited by Caroline Bingham Designed by Helen Chapman Publishing manager Susan Leonard Managing art editor Clare Shedden Jacket design Chris Drew Picture researcher Sarah Stewart-Richardson Production Shivani Pandey DTP Designer Almudena Díaz Consultant Kim Dennis-Bryan PhD, FZS With thanks to Victoria Long for design assistance. First published in Great Britain in 2004 by Dorling Kindersley Limited 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 A Penguin Company Copyright © 2004 Dorling Kindersley Limited, London A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. ISBN 1-4053-0090-6 Colour reproduction by Colourscan, Singapore Printed and bound in Italy by L.E.G.O. see our complete catalogue at www.dk.com Contents 4-5 Rocky Earth 6-7 A volcanic beginning 8-9 Making of a rock 10-11 Igneous rock 12-13 Sedimentary rock 14-15 Metamorphic rock 16-17 Rocks from space 18-19 Hidden beauty 20-21 Breakdown 22-23 Carving a path 24-25 Crystals 26-27 What a gem! 28-29 Precious metals 30-31 Get that metal! 32-33 Using rocks in art 34-35 Rocks in history 36-37 Building rocks 38-39 A touch of mystery 40-41 History in a rock 42-43 Hunting for rocks 44-45 What does it make? 46-47 Glossary 48 Index and acknowledgements te lephone el jew ler y car cloth e s Rocky Earth Rocks and minerals are important. They make up much of our planet and are mined to provide many of the things around us, from cars to computers. Even your body contains minerals that keep you alive. thpa ste and me! u o y computer 4 too house + quartz crystals Feldspar (pink and white) + = feldspar crystals Let’s make a rock granite (a type of rock) Ea rt Earth’s crust is between 5 and 68 km (3 1⁄2 and 42 miles) thick. r te e cor C tle an Ou t rus M or Most of the crust and mantle is made from lots of different rocks, all squashed together. mica crystals Quartz (grey) sc h’ Rocks are made up of crystals of minerals. Different amounts of minerals make up different rocks (though some rocks are made from just one mineral). Mica (black) e Scientists believe the Earth was born about 4,600 million years ago. Store cupboard The things we use in our everyday lives come from our planet, Earth. The raw ingredients are all taken from the crust. We cannot drill any deeper. Mineral facts •Your body contains more than 60 minerals. Nine of these are essential for life. •Some minerals take thousands of years to form. Some form in minutes. + coal tar Let’s make shampoo What forms the shampoo you use on your hair? Minerals, including those below! = + lithium clay selenium shampoo 5 A volcanic beginning Squeeze clay in your hands and it oozes between your fingers. This is a little like what happens inside a volcano. The pressure grows until the volcano erupts. Whoosh! It is the first step in the formati