What does heterogeneous mean in earth science?
Heterogeneous properties are those that vary within a material. A soil is an example of a heterogeneous material. Clay earth on top of sand might have different chemical properties than the clay beneath it. A rock might have different properties at different locations within it.
What does heterogenous mean in earth science?
Heterogenous rock is simply any rock that doesn’t have a single unifying mineralogy. This means that the mineral content or chemical make up of one type of rock can be significantly different from that of another type. The story of how this came to be is relatively simple: it can be the result of geological processes that occur over millions of years.
What does heterogeneous mean in science?
Heterogeneous means different or having different properties. In earth sciences, it’s often used to describe the diversity of materials found in the earth’s crust, mantle, and ocean. For example, granite is formed from molten magma that cooled and crystallized. Granite is made up of minerals, like quartz, feldspar, and mica, that have different properties.
What does heterogeneous mean in environmental science?
A heterogeneous environment is any system in which the natural materials that make up the environment are not the same on all levels. In a lake, for example, the water is the environment, but the lake bed is also part of the system, and the water and bed are made up of different materials. They are not the same.
What does heterogeneous mean in earth science majors?
Heterogeneous refers to a rock that has two or more distinct layers, each with a different physical or chemical makeup. A rock made of two different types of minerals, for instance, is an example of a heterogeneous rock. A more common example of a heterogeneous rock is conglomerate. A conglomerate is a rock made of small pieces of sandstone (a type of sedimentary rock) cemented together by sand.