Rocks, minerals, and soils are components of the lithosphere. A rock is a hard, solid material found in nature. Most rocks are made of bits and pieces of different minerals. A mineral is a natural substance made of elements. Rocks and minerals provide raw materials for development of most of the soils of the world. The mixture of rocks, minerals, and organic matter is called soil. The processes of disintegration (fragmentation, splitting, and detachment) and decomposition (formation of simpler substances from complex substances) are responsible for the production of loose and unconsolidated parent materials from rocks and minerals. These processes are collectively called weathering. Only a few soils develop from organic parent materials which are formed by deposition of residues of past vegetation, usually accumulated under wet conditions. Thus, elements make up minerals, and minerals make up rocks. Weathering and erosion make rocks change and move. As rocks break down, they mix with organic matter to form soil. Earth has countless kinds of rocks and soils. Plants and animals rely on healthy soil.

Shashank Shekhar Pathak

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