Everybody from all ages can enjoy rock collection. Adults and children alike can enjoy and learn a lot from collecting rocks. Rock collecting is a hobby that is not always the same for each collector or hobbyist. Collectors usually have biases towards a specific type of rock and therefore more interested in collecting rocks like them.

Rocks are around us. The Earth is made of rock, from the tallest mountain to the floor of the ocean, making this hobby very accessible and very much for free. Most rocks at the Earth’s surface are formed from the eight elements: oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium and sodium. These elements combine in different ways making each rock different.

Rocks never run out. They are also continually changing. Wind, water and nature take part in breaking carrying and accumulating them again, forming rocks into a different kind of rock again.

There are three types of rocks that are also subject to numerous rock collections: the igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks and the metaphoric rocks.

- Igneous rocks are formed from melted rock that has cooled and solidified. Magma from an erupting volcano or just flowed upward gets exposed onto the Earth’s surface. It then cools down slowly (when at depth of thousands of feet) or rapidly (when at the Earth’s surface). A wide variety of rocks re formed by different cooling rates and different chemical compositions of the original magma. Obsidian, granite, basalt and andesite are types of igneous rocks.

- Sedimentary rocks are formed at the surface of the Earth, either in water or on land. They are layered accumulations of sediments- rocks, minerals, or animal and plant material. Temperatures and pressures are low at the Earth’s surface and sedimentary rocks show this fact by their appearance and minerals they contain. Most sedimentary rocks become cemented together by minerals and chemicals or are held together by electrical attractions

- Metamorphic rocks are sedimentary and igneous rocks subjected to intense heat and pressure. They form while deeply buried within the Earth’s crust. Granite gneiss and biotite schist are two examples of metamorphic rocks. Pressure and temperature can even change the previously metamorphosed rock into new types.

E-how listed some of different ways or tips on how to find rare rocks for the collection.

Step1: Some of the rarest rocks or gemstones are buried just beneath the Earth’s surface
and may not require deep excavation.
Step2: Visit volcanic islands. Certain magmatic rocks found in volcanic pipes are found
to contain diamonds.
Step 3: Be prepared for a little one-on-one with the wilds of nature. Rare rocks are often
excavated from mountains and rivers along such wild terrain as Africa.
Step 4: Look for fossils. Some fossil sites are open to the public, but these relics of
history can also be found along riverbeds.
Step 5: Get ready to travel! Rare rock collectors often travel as far as the Arctic or the
rainforests in the hopes of finding even one rare rock.
Step 6: Check recent quarry and mine sites. Older sites usually have a depleted supply,
but new sites are often more fruitful.

Rock collecting is a rewarding and a hobby that will enable you to travel to collect the one of a kind stones and rocks. But the trips and aching back after painfully carving out the stone or ledges are all worth it once you see the great collection you have created.

Related posts:

1. Telling the Earth’s Story Through Rock Collecting
2. Types of rocks, a rock collecting basic
3. Why on Earth Rock Collecting?
4. Know how to identify your rock collection specimens
5. Rock collecting can be addictive