Brown Mausoleum

We start our geologic tour at the largest and most obvious mausoleum in the cemetery. Virtually all of the markers in Parsons Cemetery are made of rock. So, what is a rock? A rock is a naturally-occurring substance made up of one or more different minerals. One marker, which you will visit on this tour, is made of metal, and a few are made of concrete. Concrete is not a real rock. (Image 1)

So, what is a mineral? A mineral is a naturallyoccurring inorganic solid that possesses a definite chemical structure (also known as a crystal lattice), giving it a unique set of properties. One of the most obvious properties is color, and you will see minerals of all sorts of different colors on this tour. If you look closely at the rock which the Brown mausoleum is made of, you will see it has several different distinct types of minerals. Because most of the minerals are pink to red in color, the overall appearance of this rock is pinkish-red. (Image 2)

So how do rocks form? Well, that depends on the type of rock. Most of the rocks which make up the Earth’s crust are formed by the cooling of molten rock called magma or lava. When the molten rock is found inside the Earth, it’s called magma, but when the molten rock flows out on the Earth’s surface during an eruption, it’s called lava. In either case, the molten rock will cool, and minerals will form through a process called crystallization. That’s how the rock at Stop 1 formed. These types of rocks are called igneous rocks, and many of the markers in Parsons are made of igneous rocks. (Image 3)