The rock in question looks like it might be some gneiss (soft gray color), some quartzite (blotchy gray with white crystals), with quartz veins between the two. You can see how the gneiss has worn away more than the quartz and quartzite sections, because it is a softer rock than the other two types.
While this rock may have started out as a fine sandstone (sedimentary) it changed over millions of years to gneiss and quartzite and quartz (all metamorphic) due to massive pressures and heat put upon it below the the earth's surface. The quartz veins happen when rock becomes liquid and then recrystallizes as it intrudes itself through the surrounding rock during metamorphism.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-01-11 11:38 am (UTC)While this rock may have started out as a fine sandstone (sedimentary) it changed over millions of years to gneiss and quartzite and quartz (all metamorphic) due to massive pressures and heat put upon it below the the earth's surface. The quartz veins happen when rock becomes liquid and then recrystallizes as it intrudes itself through the surrounding rock during metamorphism.