Here's a breakdown:
* Sediments: These are loose particles like sand, silt, clay, and even fragments of rocks and fossils.
* Cementation: This is the process where dissolved minerals in groundwater precipitate (crystallize) between sediment grains.
* Minerals: These are naturally occurring solid substances with a definite chemical composition and a specific crystal structure. Common cementing minerals include calcite, quartz, and iron oxides.
So, it's not that the minerals *glue* the sediments together. It's more accurate to say that the minerals crystallize between the sediment grains, effectively binding them together.