The Rock Cycle Flashcards

The rock cycle is a never-ending web that repeats again and again, forming new igneous rock through constructive forces, breaking down rock to form sedimentary rocks through destructive forces, and pushing rock deep beneath the surface where heat and pressure form metamorphic rock.

Igneous rock is made from cooled lava and magma.

Intrusive igneous rocks are those that cooled slowly beneath the Earth's surface, usually coarse-grained like granite.

<p>Extrusive igneous rocks are those that cooled quickly above the Earth's surface, usually fine-grained like obsidian.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Magma is melted rock from any of the rock types.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Sedimentary rock is made through a series of natural processes, gluing sediments together.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Weathering is the natural process that wears and carries away rock.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Deposition is the dropping of sediments from the forces that are carrying it.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Compaction and cementation are processes that squeeze and glue sediments together.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Sediments are bits and small pieces of fossils, rock, and/or plant remains.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Metamorphic rock is formed from any of the rock types, heated and pressurized so that the minerals change and become a different rock.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Contact metamorphism occurs when the rock is metamorphosed by being heated, but not melted, by magma deposits.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Regional metamorphism occurs when the rock is pressurized until it is a different rock without being heated.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Fine-grained refers to rocks with grains so small they feel smooth and are tiny or even invisible to the human eye, such as obsidian.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Coarse-grained refers to rocks with large grains that are easy to see and feel, such as granite.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Clastic rock is a type of sedimentary rock that is made up of sediments, such as shale.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Chemical rock is a type of sedimentary rock made from the crystallization of water solutions, like chemical limestone.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Organic rock is a type of sedimentary rock made of particles of once-living things, such as coal.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Foliated refers to rocks where the particles are lined up in thin, flat layers, such as slate.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Nonfoliated refers to rocks where the particles have no apparent order and are randomly placed, such as marble.</p> Signup and view all the answers