Geology

Stone & Mineral Collection

← All Exhibits

Among these specimens is a real geode — a hollow rock cavity lined with crystals that grew from mineral-rich fluids — and pumice, a volcanic rock full of tiny gas bubbles that became trapped as lava cooled rapidly.

Additional Information

Nearly all rock falls into three families: igneous (cooled from magma or lava), sedimentary (compacted layers of sediment), and metamorphic (transformed by heat and pressure).

Rock is constantly recycled between these three types over millions of years, a cycle geologists call the rock cycle.

A rock’s texture — coarse, fine, layered, crystalline — is often the biggest clue to figuring out exactly how and where it formed.