Lithification

Lithification is when tiny pieces of rocks and minerals stick together and become a big rock. Imagine you have a bucket of Lego pieces. Each Lego piece is like a tiny piece of rock or mineral. If you pour glue all over the Lego pieces and let it dry, the Lego pieces will stick together and become one big block of Lego.

That's kind of what happens with rocks and minerals. Over a long time, tiny pieces of rocks and minerals can get stuck together and become one big rock. The glue that holds them together is usually a kind of mud or sediment. Sometimes, heat and pressure can help make the pieces stick together better too.

When we find big rocks out in nature, it's often because lithification has happened. It's pretty cool to think that these rocks started out as tiny pieces and then stuck together to become something much bigger!