The materials in the solids that make up planet Earth consist of naturally occurring chemical compounds, known as minerals, and their aggregates, rocks. Many different processes are involved in forming a rock from a group of minerals, which are typically divided into three general categories: igneous (involving molten material), sedimentary (involving the weathering of rock and transport of sediment), and metamorphic (that modify rocks through changes in temperature, pressure, and fluids inside the Earth). Most rocks are formed by processes related to plate tectonics.
Earth materials are formed from chemical elements whose origins are explained through studies of stars and meteorites. When the universe began, only light elements were formed. Heavier elements (up to iron) are formed in stars through nuclear fusion. Elements heavier than iron are created in supernovae. These explosions disperse material throughout space and form the raw material from which new stars and solar systems are formed. The nebula that would become our solar system was formed slightly more than 4.56 billion years ago. Chondritic meteorites provide us with samples of the primordial material from which the Earth was formed.
—July 2020
Lance Jones 