Sediments to Sedimentary

Our Earth's surface is constantly changing, whether by wind, water, ice, or heat. As these changes occur, one thing that happens is that bigger rocks are being broken down into smaller pieces of rock. These smaller pieces of rock, or sediments, are what we know as sand, gravel, pebbles and clay. As these new pieces of sediments move around, they start to pile up on one another and begin to form layers on the surface. Over time, more and more layers begin to form on top of one another and the layers below begin to compress, or press together, creating, Sedimentary Rock. Some of the most common forms of Sedimentary rocks are, limestone, sandstone, shale and conglomerate.

Fun Fact- 70% of all rocks on Earth are sedimentary rocks!

There are two ways for Sedimentary Rock to form-

• pressure- as more and more layers begin to form on top of one another, the layers underneath compress together under pressure, creating solid rock.
• cementing- some sediments are "glued" together by other minerals that dissolve in water.