The Influence of Rock Types on Landscapes

The appearance and characteristic features of landforms are greatly influenced by the underlying rock type. Softer rocks like clay and shale are worn down much faster than harder rocks like granite.
The ancient rocks which dominate a great part of West Africa have been so greatly worn down by erosion that they now appear as peneplains. Granite domes for inselbergs have been formed where the old rocks resist erosion: and in some cases, such resistant high rocks produce high relief, such as the Jos Plateau of Nigeria, the Akwapim-Togo-Atacora ridges and the Birrimian uplands of Ghana, and the interior plateaux and mountains of Sierra Leone, Shales, schists and sandstones, being less resistant, form the much lower, rounded hills. Recent river sediments form flat plains.

Metamorphic Rocks

All rocks whether igneous or sedimentary may become metamorphic or changed rocks under great heat and pressure. Their original character and appearance may be greatly altered by such forces, particularly during intense earth movements. In this manner, clay may be metamorphosed into slate, limestone into marble, sandstone into quartzite, granite into gneiss, shale into schist and coal into graphite.

Sedimentary Rocks

Sedimentary rocks are formed from sediment accumulated over long periods, usually under water. They are distinguished from the other rock types by their characteristic layer formation and are termed stratified rocks. The strata may vary in thickness from a few centimetres to many metres. The rocks may be coarse or fine-grained, soft or hard. The materials that form sedimentary rocks may be brought by streams, glaciers, winds or even animals. They are non-crystalline and often contain fossils of animals, plants and other micro-organisms. Sedimentary rocks are thus the most varied in their formation of all rocks. Sedimentary rocks are classified according to their age and different kinds of rocks formed during the same period are grouped together. It is

Igneous Rocks

Igneous rocks are formed by the cooling and solidification of molten rock (magma) from beneath the earth's crust. They are normally crystalline in structure. They do not occur in strata (layers) nor do they contain fossils. Igneous rocks may be subdivided on the basis of mineral composition. When they contain a high proportion of silica they are said to be acid. Acid igneous rocks, such as granite, are less dense and are lighter in colour than basic rocks. These contain a greater proportion of basic of basic oxides, e.g. of iron, aluminum or magnesium, and are thus denser and darker in colour.
In terms of origin there are two main classes of

The Classification Of Rocks

Rock Texture, Structure and Colour

Rock texture refers to the sizes of the mineral grains, that is, whether the rock is fine grained or coarse grained, dense glass or frothy glass. The texture of an igneous rock varies according to the environment in which solidification took place. Very rapid cooling of lava at the earth's surface results in a glassy texture. Moderately rapid cooling produces fine texture, while coarse textures are as a result of slow or gradual cooling of molten rock deep down in the crust. Textures of sedimentary rocks are recognizable on the basis of the size of the constituent grains and the minerals contained. Shale is a sedimentary rock formed from mud or clay and it is made up of particles of sand size 0.02mm - 2.00mm.
The colours of rocks are essentially a consequence of the minerals which make up the roc