EARTH AND ROCKS - The Rock cycle

Question 1

What is the rock cycle?

Answer 1

A cycle that shows how rocks turn from one rock type into another.

Question 2

Describe the process of the rock cycle.

Answer 2

1. Rocks on a mountain undergo freeze-thaw weathering.
2. Sediments break off and gravity takes them down the mountain
3. Deposition –> Compaction/Cementation leads to sedimentary rocks being formed
4. Over several years, layers of sedimentary rocks form
5. Layers near the bottom deep underground are heated up, turning into metamorphic rocks
6. Metamorphic rocks are heated to become part of the magma or pushed up a volcano.
7. Magma near the top of the volcano cool to form granite (igneous rock)
8. If the volcano erupts, lava cools to form basalt (igneous rock)

Question 3

What is uplift?

Answer 3

Earth’s crust colliding, which forces it up, creating mountains

Question 4

What causes the Earth’s crust to collide?

Answer 4

Convection currents in the mantle move tectonic plates into one another.

Question 5

Why is uplift useful for research?

Answer 5

It brings up rocks that were once buried, e.g. fossils