"So, what is the difference between a sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rock anyway?!?" You may ask this question over and over inside your head, (especially all you rock heads out there... just kidding.) Well here we will tear open the subject and leave nothing to hide about these three kinds of rocks.

Igneous Rock

An igneous rock usually is a lot of times made up of very large particles. Igneous rock is the same kind of rock that comes from volcanoes. I know, you can't believe that such a beautiful rock could come from the same stuff that can melt almost anything, but it's true! Take a moment to browse through some of my igneous rock pictures, rocks we actually found here in Wisconsin! That means that Wisconsin use to be a large volcanic hot spot but don't worry about lava flowing toward your Wisconsin homes anytime soon. There are currently no "living" volcanoes around in Wisconsin.

Just a little note, not all of the rocks are igneous in this picture. Only the ones that look speckled and don't look completely one color are the igneous rocks.

Sedimentary Rock

Sedimentary rock is kind of easy to explain. It is a kind of rock that was made of dirt, sediments, (hence the name sedimentary) pebbles, decaying matter, or other organic material. An example of a sedimentary rock is a fossil. Below I have some examples of sedimentary rocks.

Metamorphic Rock

Metamorphic rock is a rock that use to be an igneous or sedimentary rock. Why is it different you might ask, because it is somehow changed to make a new rock. Some of the changes that can take place is when heat is added, a lot of pressure is aplied to the rock, or other changes, as long as the rock didn't turn into a liquid during the change. Sorry, currently I don't have any metamorphic rock pictures.