# @usgs on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DcBewKADfG-
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/69013799-usgs-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/dc8aa2be52.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-14T14:04:37.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) (@USGS) — https://gondola.cc/USGS

## Caption

What’s the difference between a rock and a mineral? 🪨 

We’ve all picked up an interesting rock at some point, but what looks like a single rock may be made up of several different minerals. Think of minerals as the pieces, and rocks as the puzzle they make. 

A mineral is a naturally occurring, non-living, solid substance with its own unique chemical makeup and structure. Common minerals include quartz, feldspar, mica, olivine, and calcite. 

A rock, on the other hand, is a mix of one or more minerals bound together. Granite, basalt, limestone, and sandstone are all rocks made up of different mineral combinations. 

USGS scientists study the mineral content of rocks and map them across the U.S. to understand where valuable mineral deposits might be found, information that helps meet the needs of modern manufacturing, technology, and energy production. Our scientists also study how rocks form and change over time, piecing together the story of our planet's 4.5-billion-year history. 

Discover more about the rocks and minerals that shape our world and how USGS studies them at the link in our bio.

📸1: A sample of azurite, the blue mineral, and malachite, the green mineral from Milpillas Mine, Mexico. Both azurite and malachite are copper minerals that were once used as pigments. They serve as good indicators of copper deposits that can be developed.

📸2: Silicon Carbide’s primary commodity is silica, an abrasive.  Just as their name implies, abrasives are used to abrade, clean, etch, grind, polish, scour, or otherwise remove material.

📸3: Vertical columns of basaltic volcanic rock, like those at Devils Postpile National Monument in California, are formed when think lava flows slowly cool.

📸4: A fluorite mineral set in surrounding rock. Flourspar, the processed form of fluorite, is used directly or indirectly to manufacture products such as aluminum, gasoline, insulating foams, refrigerants, steel, and uranium fuel. 

Credit: USGS

#GeologyRocks #RocksAndMinerals #CriticalMinerals

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## Tags

criticalminerals, rocksandminerals, geologyrocks

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