Part of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Victoria, PACTAC is a pioneering, multidisciplinary research centre, and home to the electronic scholarly journal CTheory, CTheory Archive, and CTheory Multimedia.
Rocks: Rocks are a composed of one or more minerals. A rock can be made up of only one mineral or, as shown in the figure, a rock can be made up of a number of different minerals. So, rocks are composed of one or more minerals and minerals are composed of one or more elements. Previous Item: Why should we study rocks? Go Up: Learn About Rocks
Igneous rocks are commonly classified by their composition and texture. Most are composed of the eight most abundant elements in the Earth's crust. Because of the dominance of oxygen and silicon in the crust, igneous rocks are mostly made up of silicate minerals.These silicates can be generally divided into light and dark silicates.lements Abundant in Igneous Rock. Eight elements make up about 98% by weight of most magmas from which igneous rocks are made. Click on any element for further details. The dominance of oxygen and silicon in the Earth's crust gaurantees that most igneous rocks are made up of silicate minerals.