1. A rock is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter.

It
is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition and the way in which it is
formed.
2. Rocks are usually grouped into three main groups: igneous rocks, metamorphic
rocks and sedimentary rocks.
3. Rocks form the Earth's outer solid layer, the crust.
4. Igneous rocks are formed when magma cools in the Earth's crust, or lava cools on the ground
surface or the seabed.
 .Magma is produced when rocks are melted.
 This melting can occur when a lithospheric plate descends into the Earth’s crust at a
subduction zone.
5. The metamorphic rocks are formed when existing rocks are subjected to such large pressures
and temperatures that they are transformed—something that occurs, for example,
when continental plates collide.
6. The sedimentary rocks are formed by diagenesis or lithification of sediments, which in turn
are formed by the weathering, transport and deposition of existing rocks.
 Lithification is the process by which unconsolidated materials are converted into solid
rock, as by compaction or cementation.
7. The scientific study of rocks is called petrology, which is an essential component of geology.

8. The rock cycle is a process in which rocks are continuously transformed between the three
rock types igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.
9. Rocks of any type can be converted into any other type, or into another rock of the same
type.
10. Increased temperature and pressure occurs in subduction zones and in areas where two
plates of continental lithosphere collide to produce a mountain range, while increased pressure
without increased temperature is produced when sedimentary rocks are deeply buried under
more sediments.