Lithology

Lithology (Greek: lithos=stone and logos=teaching), also known as geology, is the science of rocks and the types of material in the solid crust of the earth. Lithology deals with the chemical and physical composition of rocks as well as their properties. Furthermore, the rock composition of individual minerals, as well as their grain size and partially the crystal structure is researched. An important sub-area is sediment petrography and soil physics.

On the other hand, the geological formation of rocks in the interior of the earth, during mountain building and sedimentation, is assigned to petrology, which belongs to the narrower field of geology.