Country rock is a geological term meaning the rock native to an area. It is similar and in many cases interchangeable with the terms basement and wall rocks.
The term is used to denote the usual strata of a region in relation to the rock which is being discussed or observed.
The following are areas in geology when the term country rock is used;
- Intrusive settings; when describing a pluton or dike one may describe the igneous rock as intruding the surrounding country rock, the rock into which the pluton has intruded.
- In describing the texture or structure of lit-par-lit intrusion, the intrusive is described in relation to the country rock or wall rock
- Alluvial settings; when describing recent alluvium the material that has arrived through volcanic, glacial or fluvial action can be described as a veneer on the country rock
Famous quotes containing the words country and/or rock:
“These are not dark days: these are great days—the greatest days our country has ever lived.”
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965)
“Amongst the learned the lawyers claim first place, the most self-satisfied class of people, as they roll their rock of Sisyphus and string together six hundred laws in the same breath, no matter whether relevant or not, piling up opinion on opinion and gloss on gloss to make their profession seem the most difficult of all. Anything which causes trouble has special merit in their eyes.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)