Earth Earth is metamorphic rock, which is created from the transformation of pre-existing rock types through high pressures, high temperatures, or both. The most abundant silicate minerals on Earth's surface include quartz, feldspars, amphibole, mica, pyroxene and olivine. Common carbonate minerals include calcite (found in limestone) and dolomite. The elevation of the land surface varies from the low point of at the Dead Sea, to a maximum altitude of at the top of Mount Everest. The mean height of land above sea level is about . The pedosphere is the outermost layer of Earth's continental surface and is composed of soil
Primary minerals in the acidic igneous rocks and a second group of accessory minerals which were formed by deposition from the residual mother liquors. Modern soil science offers the following definition: "Primary Minerals: The thickness of the earth's crust varies from 10 km under the ocean to 30 km under the continents. Of the 88 naturally occurring elements on earth, only 8 make [up] most of the crust. The earth's crust and soils are dominated by the silicic acid in combination with Na, Al, K, Ca, Fe and O ions. ...Those elements are components of primary minerals, whereas primary minerals are components