Geological Glossary

Glossary of common terms used in geology, and related to earth sciences.

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Sediment

Sediment is the word geologists use for loose pieces of minerals and rock. Of course, pieces of rock come in all sizes so we have developed a way to classify them. The chart on the left shows we use for each grain size. Most of the names are ones you already use; sand, boulders, and clay, for example. The illustrations of sand and pebbles are shown at their actual sizes. Unfortunately silt and clay are smaller than a single pixel on your computer screen, so they don't show up well here!

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