The Rock Cycle
What drives it?
What is a rock?
An aggregate (combination) of minerals.
There are 3 main categories of rock known as “rock types”.
Rock Types
IgneousSedimentaryMetamorphic
Rock Formation
Is a sequence of events that may involve one or all of the following processes:
-formation
-destruction
-alteration
-reformationThe original state of all rocks on earth is Magma.
Rock Evolution
Created by the following geological processes:Created by the following geological processes: generation and movement of magma weathering erosion transportation deposition of sediment metamorphism of preexisting rocks.
Magma
Requires HeatMelted rockFound under the
earth’s crustKnown as “lava”
above the earth’s crustCrystallizes to form
Igneous Rocks
Igneous Rocks
Requires crystallization Intrusive - crystallized
inside the earthExtrusive - crystallized
outside the earth (see picture)
Can be eroded to produce sediment
Sediment Produced by the erosion of any type of rock.
Rock is eroded by mechanical (rain, wind, freezing/thawing) and chemical (dissolution) processes.
Sediment is deposited and layered to form Sedimentary Rocks
Sedimentary RocksRequires the transport,
deposition, compaction and lithification of sediment.
Can be melted to form magma.
Can be eroded to form sediment.
Can be metamorphosed through intense heat & pressure.
Heat and PressureAny rock type can be
subjected to intense heat and pressure.
Commonly occurs at plate boundaries and volcanically active areas, including hotspots.
Forms metamorphic Rocks
Metamorphic RocksFormed through intense
heat and pressure without melting the rock.
Folds are created in the rock due to grain/crystal alignment from intense pressure.
New crystals form due to the rearrangement (not melting) of original crystals in the rock matrix.
Magma
Igneous Rocks
Sediment produced by
erosion
Sedimentary Rocks
Heat & Pressure
Metamorphic Rocks
The Rock Cycle
The Never-ending Cycle
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