How were the rocks at Giant's Causeway formed?
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The rocks of the Giant's Causeway crystalized from molten rock or melted rock called magma.  This process makes igneous rocks. As the magma and rock cools, it loses heat and water, and as a result shrinks.   The shrinkage causes the polygon pattern which makes the Giant's Causeway famous, see photos at this web site: http://www.webvider.com/wwm/images/gb_u162.jpg\n\nGeologists call this pattern, when seen in igneous rocks, columnar joints.  Joints are the cracks which form during cooling.   Columnar joints are often seen in volcanic and shallow formed igneous rock such here in Northern Ireland, Iceland, and in North America,........all over the world where igneous rocks are found.
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Hi, Seaford cliffs are chalk/flint; and the geology is from the Cretaceous period. Google 'geology seaford' and see what you come up with!\n\nAlso check http://www.discoveringfossils.co.uk/locationsSE.htm - there's not much detail, but it gives you a little bit of information. Seaford's towards the bottom of the list.\n\nGood luck with your homework!
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okay first you have lava whihc solidifies above or below ground to become extrusive or intrusive igneous respectively and the intrusive having larger crystal sizes since they cool slower then those are wethered away and washed away by water and compacted to become sedimentary this process can also happen to other sedimentary rocks or metamorphic rocks to make them sedimentary rocks then the rocks can be deformed but not melted by heat and pressure the deformation makes them metamorphic rocks again this can happen to any rock to make it a metamorphic one then any rock can be completely melted and resolidified to become igneous\n\nwhew i finally finished... i wonder if anyone will understand that without punctuation...
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Erosion forms sand\nSand settles as sediment\nSediment hardens over time\nVoila, Sandstone
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Orogeny is the building of mountains.  Most mountains are formed when one techtonic plate subducts under another pushing the top plate up.  Mount Everests includes sedimentary rock that was part of the sea.  The subduction can sweep seawater and silt under a plate setting up the conditions for huge volcanoes as magma is formed and rises through the stratta above as in the Andes.
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To understand sedimentary rock layers, it is important to understand that the earth's surface is always slowly - but constantly - changing.  Mountains and other areas that are raised above the surrounding land are subject to wind, rain, and water which constantly wear them down.  The bits of sand, pebbles, and rubble that get worn down from mountains, mesas, and cliffs are pulled by gravity to the low-lying areas (valleys, lake beds, sea-shores) where they collect over time.  Over millions of years, these deposits can harden and petrify into sedimentary rock layers.  Other sedimentary rock layers (like limestone) form on ancient sea or lake beds and are the remains of the various animals and plants that lived in the water.\n\nThus when you look at the different layers of the Grand Canyon, you are looking at the petrified remains of what was once the surface of the earth (or the bottom of a sea bed) at a time the region was being covered with sedimentary material.  Different rock layers occur when changes to the environment cause one type of material to stop being deposited and new materials get deposited instead.  For example, a shallow sea may create layers of limestone.  If the sea later dries up and the now exposed sea bed gets covered over with blowing dry sand, then a layer of sandstone will be deposited on top of the limestone.  In this way, geologists can see how the surface of the earth changes at a given spot over time.\n\nAs for the specific rock layers in the Grand Canyon, here is a VERY SIMPLISTIC description of the situation and processes that produced the major rock layers (from the oldest layer at the bottom to newest at the top):\n\nVishnu Schist (bottom) - 1.7+ billion years ago the area around Grand Canyon was a series of volcanic islands surrounded by a shallow sea.  The resulting deposits of ash, sand, and mud created shales, sandstones and mudestones that were eventually compressed and distorted with time and pressure into gneiss and schist.\n\nTapeats Sandstone - There is a long period where the rocks from this area did not survive and so no record is left (the Great Unconformity).  Eventually this area became part of the edge of the still forming North American continent.  Sandy beaches in this area around 540 million years ago created this sandstone formation.\n\nBright Angel Shale - The water moved further inland, causing this area to be frequently underwater and covered with deposits of mud (which is where shale comes from).\n\nMuav Limestone - The water got deeper and the area became part of the sea-floor proper leading to limestone deposits.\n\nFollowing the Muav Limestone, the sea appears to have receded and the land was again above water.  Little is left from this period.\n\nRedwall Limestone - Around 363 million years ago, the sea moves in rapidly again and the area is once again part of a sea floor leading to limestone deposits.\n\nSupai Group and Hermit Shale - This is actually a lot of smaller layers (a mix of shales, mudstones, and limestones) created as the sea came in and went out numerous times over a period of 30 million years.\n\nCoconino Sandstone - The seas pulled back and this part of North America became part of a vast sand-dune filled desert (similar to North Africa).  The Coconino Sandstone is the petrified remains of ancient sand dunes.\n\nToroweap Formation and Kaibab Limestone (top of canyon) - The sea came back and turned the area first into shallow mud flats (Toroweap) and then drowned it completely into a sea floor (Kaibab) about 240 million years ago.\n\nOne frequent related question... how can Grand Canyon rock layers be from the bottom of a sea when the canyon rim is at 6000+ feet elevation, did the water get that high?  The answer is no... at the time that the sea floor deposits were created, this part of North America was much lower (ie: below sea level).  \n\nThe reason you can find limestone rock layers with fossil fish and clams at high elevations above current se
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Some rocks are formed from magma (lava) that comes from deep in the earth. THose rocks never have fossils because, hey, they were like, 2000 degrees and anything close to them was burned totally. \n\nSome rocks were formed from deposits at the bottom of ponds, rivers, mud flats along the ocean, and in the shallow ocean. Those kinds of rocks (shale, limestone) can have lots of fossils. Let's say that you had a pond at the end of a river where it meets the sea. Lots of dead stuff could float down the river and get caught in the mud. Then it would gradually get covered by more mud. After thousands or millions of years the mud would be really thick. It would be formed into rocks with the remains of the dead animals in it. Bingo. That's a fossil. \n\nThere are lots of grat books about fossils. Check it out at your local library. And most places in the USA there are rocks near you where you could go and dig up your own fossils. That would be cool.
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What you describe looks as if it is a gum from the tree(usually)which has settled on the rock and has the natural salts of the rock diffused into it . If you are still in trouble then go to the nearest research Lab to get the exact details of the elements present in this specimen.
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There are three basic types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.\n\nIgneous rocks are formed from molten magma or lava. Igneous rocks vary greatly in grain structure and size, depending upon how quickly the magma or lava cooled. An example of an igneous rock is obsidian.\n\nSedimentary rocks are formed when layers of sediment are compacted by pressure. They are often composed of fragments of materials derived from other rocks and minerals, especially quartz.\n\nMetamorphic rocks occur when igneous, sedimentary, or previously-formed metamorphic rocks are submitted to extreme heat or pressure beneath the earth's surface, changing their structure and appearance. They often exhibit "foliation" or color banding when mineral crystals are elongated due to pressure. An example of a metamorphic rock is slate.
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Sedimentary rock forms relatively flat. Youngest always on top of the oldest. Just like a stack of newspapers if you were to accumulate them everyday.\n\nFolding from compressional stress is one. Rock is literally pushed together creating anticlines & synclines, upward folding & downward folding arches respectively.\n\nFaults can also do this. This can be accomplished through compressional (pushed together) or tensional (pulled apart) stresses.\n\nI am not too sure about this one but isostatic adjustment could possibly tilt rocks.\n\nHope this helps.\n\n:)
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If you get a large enough mass of rock together, say about 1000km across, it will naturally crush itself into a spherical shape.  Once you have enough mass for gravitational forces to overcome structural support things becomes spherical.
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Well, I would argue that is was never lost. It has been there a long time and known by inhabitants of the British Isles for thousands of years. There are many arguments as to who constructed it though especially since the stone used does not come from that area of the UK.\n\nThe website below should be able to help you further
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the rock starts as magma turns into igneous then to sedimentary the metamorphic....extreamly siplified but i think u get the point\nheres what a more complex on looks like\nhttp://geologyonline.museum.state.il.us/tools/lessons/6.4/rockcycle.gif
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Too long to list:\nhttp://seis.natsci.csulb.edu/bperry/ROCKS.htm\ngood site
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Erosion breaks up igneous and metamorphic rocks, and the particles build up to create sedimentary rocks.  \n\nHope this is helpful.
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In order to create sedimentary rock from metamorphic rock you would first have to erode the metamorphic rock into sediment, then cement it together.  Pressure and heat will transform sedimentary rock into metamorphic rock, but they will not change metamorphic rock back into sedimentary rock.
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I believe that you are speaking of plate tectonics when referring to continents floating (islands do not...they are volcanic formations from oceanic plates), here is some info:\n\nContinents are made up of solid rock, and float in the fluid (a very viscous fluid) of the Earth's mantle (also called the magnasphere). If the specific gravity of the mantle and the specific gravity of continental material are known, it should be possible to calculate how continents float in the Earth's mantle. \nThe average continent is made up primarily of limestone, granite, or eroded granitic byproducts such as shale, siltstone, and sandstone, as well as metamorphics like slate, schist, and gneiss. However, most continents also have substantial amounts of andesite and basalt added in, from a past history of various volcanic events. The addition of these denser materials raises the average specific gravity for continental material to around 2.7. SiMa (from Silicon/Magnesium - its principal elements) is the material of the Earth's mantle - the 'fluid' in which continents are floating. To all appearances, this material is solid rock, but under the extreme pressure and temperature to which it is subjected, it actually flows like a liquid, albeit very slowly. Its specific gravity of 3.3 is high enough to insure that continents cannot sink. \n\nSo...it is all a matter of density...oceanic plates are made up of denser stone and so settle into the magnasphere lower than the lighter density continental formations.  As for the rock floating, I assume that you mean in water and the answer is the same...the density of the rock is much greater than water's...so it sinks.