What are the steps that turn sediment into rock?

Answer 1

Sedimentary rocks are formed by the lithification (cementing, compacting, and hardening) of existing rock or the bones, shells, and pieces of formerly living things. Rocks are weathered and eroded into tiny particles which are then transported and deposited along with other pieces of rock called sediments.

Sediments are cemented together and compacted and hardened over time by the weight and pressure of up to thousands of feet of additional sediments above them. Eventually, the sediments are lithified and become solid sedimentary rock. These sediments that come together are known as clastic sediments. Sediments usually sort themselves by the size of the particles during the deposition process so sedimentary rocks tend to contain similarly sized sedimentary particles.

An alternative to clastic sediments are chemical sediments which are minerals in solution that harden. The most common chemical sedimentary rock is limestone, which is a biochemical product of calcium carbonate created by the parts of dead creatures.

Approximately three-quarters of the earth's bedrock on the continents is sedimentary.