Everyday Geology

So far in this blog I have been talking about some of the uses of geology, but I thought it would be good to mention some of the most common uses of different types of rocks.

So lets look at some of the most common things in everyday life and see what they are made of.

Roads. We all use them even if we don't have a car or motorcycle, for walking, the bus or cycling. One of the key ingredients to making the material which is used on roads is basalt. Basalt is an igneous rock formed from rapid cooling of lava. It is then processed to be used and combined with other materials to make road surfaces.

Monuments, sculptures, tombstones and buildings. These can be made of a variety of rock types but the most common ones are granite and marble. Granite is an intrusive igneous rock (i.e. was hot rock which slowly cooled and solidifies below the Earths surface). It is a very common rock within the continental crust.

Marble is very different. It is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallised calcite or dolomite, commonly metamorphosed limestone.

Exfoliating scrubs. These are very light and made of pumice. Pumice is volcanic rock which contains lots of air pockets called vesicles. It looks like foam but is a hard and airy rock which is great for scouring, scrubbing and polishing other surfaces.

Roof tiles. Made of slate. Slate is an metamorphic rock and the heat and pressure which altered the rock and gave it its platey property make it an appropriate material for use on roofs.

So that was a brief look at some common objects we see everyday and what they are made of. I hope this has made you interested in what other everyday items are made of and I hope you are interested enough to go and find out more for yourself.

Happy reading!