Question by …: How are the crystals in a sedimentary rock made?
I know how sedimentary rock is made but what I don’t get is how do the crystals in the rock get there lyk fit in???
Best answer:
Answer by Taelec
If you are talking about salt type rocks as the mineral comes out of solution the crystals of salt will grow until the mineral is used up.
Other rocks are the same though not salt the mineral has to be in a solution of water and the crystal will grow. You can do this at home with salt water.
As the water evaporates the salt will come out of solution and if you look at with a microscope or magnifier you will see crystals
What do you think? Answer below!
There are many types of sedimentary rocks. For example, a sandstone is the accumulation of sand that later gets cemented usually from Calcium carbonate. The sand grains are crystals and the calcium carbonate then crystallizes around the sand grains. Crystals are all around us and comprise most of the soil and nearly all the rock.
there are various ways, but the more spectacular crystals appear to be created in open (void) spaces. One way this can occur is by dissolution of an original mineral (say gypsum) and the later precipitation of the newer crystal (say quartz). Sometimes the dissolution-replacement occurs at the same time.
Sometimes pressure conditions can create spots in the sediments that can be filled in by newly growing crystals, so that the space is filled as it opens (I’ve seen some pretty cool examples of quartz, calcite and dolomite crystals in this sort of situation).
Sometimes the crystals force the nearby minerals out of the way as they grow, you might see this with euhedral pyrite in a clay-rich sediment for example. In other cases the evidence indicates formation of the mineral before compaction, and you can see the adjecent beds drape around the crystal mass.
So that is how they fit in. The usually migrate there as salts dissolved in water, rather than forming solely and directly from materials already in place.