What makes sedimentary rocks stick together

A river carries, or transports , pieces of broken rock as it flows along. When the river reaches a lake or the sea, its load of transported rocks settles to the bottom.

We say that the rocks are deposited. The deposited rocks build up in layers, called sediments. This process is called sedimentation.

The weight of the sediments on top squashes the sediments at the bottom. This is called compaction. The water is squeezed out from between the pieces of rock and crystals of different salts form. These minerals, acting as natural cements, hold the sediment together like glue, making a detrital sedimentary rock.

What rock forms when sediments stick together? The sediments in sedimentary rock are often held together with natural cements. Examples of sedimentary rocks include sandstone, limestone, and rock salt.

What keeps sedimentary rocks stick together? This is called compaction. The water is squeezed out from between the pieces of rock and crystals of different salts form. The crystals stick the pieces of rock together.

Sedimentary rocks are the product of 1 weathering of preexisting rocks, 2 transport of the weathering products, 3 deposition of the material, followed by 4 compaction, and 5 cementation of the sediment to form a rock.

The latter two steps are called lithification. If the sediments are small, they can stick together and form solid rock. This process is called compaction. Cementation is the process in which dissolved minerals crystallize and glue particles of sediment together. All sedimentary rocks were hardened by natural cen — 6. Rock salt forms from minerals. Settled fragments of rock are called sediments. Neither have to take place under water.

Compaction can occur when the weight of overlying material compresses the deeper sediments. The deeper the sediment is buried, the more compacted and firmer it becomes.

Cementation involves the crystallization of minerals among the individual sediment grains. Four basic processes are involved in the formation of a clastic sedimentary rock: weathering erosion caused mainly by friction of waves, transportation where the sediment is carried along by a current, deposition and compaction where the sediment is squashed together to form a rock of this kind.

Examples include: breccia, conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Chemical sedimentary rocks form when dissolved materials preciptate from solution.

Examples include: chert, some dolomites, flint, iron ore, limestones, and rock salt. Sedimentary rocks are formed from pieces of other existing rock or organic material. There are three different types of sedimentary rocks: clastic, organic biological , and chemical. How do particles in sedimentary rocks stick together? This process is called compaction. At the same time the particles of sediment begin to stick to each other - they are cemented together by clay, or by minerals like silica or calcite.

After compaction and cementation the sedimentary sequence has changed into a sedimentary rock. What are the properties of sedimentary rocks? What are sedimentary rocks like?

Sedimentary rocks contain rounded grains in layers. The oldest layers are at the bottom and the youngest layers are at the top. Sedimentary rocks may contain fossils of animals and plants trapped in the sediments as the rock was formed. How does sedimentary rock form? Sediment transport and deposition Sedimentary rocks are formed when sediment is deposited out of air, ice, wind, gravity, or water flows carrying the particles in suspension.

This sediment is often formed when weathering and erosion break down a rock into loose material in a source area. How are clastic rocks classified? Clastic sedimentary rocks are rocks composed predominantly of broken pieces or clasts of older weathered and eroded rocks.

Clastic sediments or sedimentary rocks are classified based on grain size, clast and cementing material matrix composition, and texture. How does weathering affect rocks? Weathering is the breaking down or dissolving of rocks and minerals on Earths surface. Once a rock has been broken down, a process called erosion transports the bits of rock and minerals away. Water, acids, salt, plants, animals, and changes in temperature are all agents of weathering and erosion.

What is the single most characteristic feature of sedimentary rocks?