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84 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is the rock cycle?
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It allows us to view many of the interrelationships among different parts of the Earth system.
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What is magma?
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Molten material that forms inside Earth.
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What is crystallization?
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When magma cools and solidifies.
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How is igneous rock formed?
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When crystallization occurs either beneath the surface or following a volcanic eruptions, at the surface.
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What is weathering?
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It's when igneous rocks are exposed at the surface and the influences of the atmosphere slowly disintegrate and decompose the rock.
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What is sediment?
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Particles and dissolved substances.
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What is lithification?
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It is when sediment turns into rock.
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What is sedimentary rock?
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When sediment is compacted by the weight of overlying layers.
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What is metamorphic rock?
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When sedimentary rock reacts to the changing environment.
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Processes driven by heat from Earth's interior are responsible for creating what type of rocks?
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Igneous and metamorphic
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Weathering and erosion, external processes powered by energy from the Sun, produce what type of rocks?
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Sedimentary
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What is magma?
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Molten material
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What are extrusive or volcanic rocks?
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Igneous rocks that form when molten rock solidifies at the surface.
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What is intrusive or plutonic rock?
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Igneous rock that forms at depth.
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Slow cooling of igneous rocks makes what kind of crystals?
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large
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Rapid cooling of igneous rocks makes what kind of crystals?
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small intergrown crystals
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What is texture?
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The overall appearance of an igneous rock, bases on the size and arrangement of its interlocking crystals.
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How is fine-grained texture formed?
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When igneous rocks form rapidly at the surface or as small masses within the upper crust.
Too small to be seen w/ unaided eye. |
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How is coarse-grained texture formed?
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When large asses of magma solidifies far below the surface.
Large enough to been see w/ unaided eye. |
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What is porphyritic texture?
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When large crystals are embedded in a matrix of smaller crystals.
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Bow is glassy texture formed?
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Rapid cooling when ions don't have sufficient time to unite in an orderly crystalline structure.
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What are dark silicates?
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THey are rich in iron and/or magnesium and have low levels of silica.
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What are light silicates?
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THey have greater amounts of potassium, sodium, and calcium and are richer in silica.
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What percent of igneous rock do feldspars make up?
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40%
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What is granitic composition?
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When quartz and feldspar are teh dominant minerals.
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What are felsic rocks?
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THat is another name for granitic rocks.
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What is granite?
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A coarse-grained igneous rock that forms where large masses of magma slowly solidify at depth.
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What is the characteristics of basaltic composition?
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Substantial dark silicate minerals and calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar (no quartz).
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What's another name for basaltic rocks?
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mafic
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What are andesitic or intermediate compostion rocks made of?
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It has a composition between granitic and basaltic rocks.
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What is ultramafic?
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Peridotite rock that is composed almost entirely of dark silicate minerals.
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What are the names of igneous rocks from lightest to darkest?
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Granitic (felsic), andesitic (intermediate), basaltic (mafic), untramafic.
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What is crystal settling?
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When earlier-formed minerals are heavier and sink toward the bottom of the magma chamber.
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What is magmatic differentiation?
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The formation from one or more secondary magmas from a single parent magma.
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What are the two kinds of weathering?
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Mechanical and chemical.
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What is mechanical weathering?
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The physical breaking up of rocks.
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What are three important physical processes in nature that break up rocks?
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frost wedging, expansion resulting from unloading, and biological activity.
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What is frost wedging?
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When after many freeze-thaw cycles, the rock is broken into pieces.
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What is unloading?
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When large masses of igneous rocks are exposed by erosion, entire slabs begin to break loose.
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What are some examples of biological activity?
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Activity of organisms, including plants, burrowing animals, and humans.
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What is chemical weathering?
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It alters the internal structure of minerals by removing and/or adding elements.
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What does the chemical weathering of granite produce?
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Clay minerals along with potassium ions and silica, which enters into solution.
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What is ultramafic?
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Peridotite rock that is composed almost entirely of dark silicate minerals.
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What are the names of igneous rocks from lightest to darkest?
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Granitic (felsic), andesitic (intermediate), basaltic (mafic), untramafic.
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What is crystal settling?
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When earlier-formed minerals are heavier and sink toward the bottom of the magma chamber.
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What is magmatic differentiation?
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The formation from one or more secondary magmas from a single parent magma.
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What are the two kinds of weathering?
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Mechanical and chemical.
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What is mechanical weathering?
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The physical breaking up of rocks.
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What are three important physical processes in nature that break up rocks?
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frost wedging, expansion resulting from unloading, and biological activity.
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What is frost wedging?
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When after many freeze-thaw cycles, the rock is broken into pieces.
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What is unloading?
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When large masses of igneous rocks are exposed by erosion, entire slabs begin to break loose.
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What are some examples of biological activity?
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Activity of organisms, including plants, burrowing animals, and humans.
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What is chemical weathering?
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It alters the internal structure of minerals by removing and/or adding elements.
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What does the chemical weathering of granite produce?
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Clay minerals along with potassium ions and silica, which enters into solution.
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What is detrital sedimentary rock?
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Sedimentary rocks made of detritus which is particles of igneous rock.
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What are chemical sedimentary rocks?
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When dissolved substances are precipitated back as solids called chemical sediment.
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What are gravel sized rounded rock called?
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Conglomerate
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What is breccia?
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Gravel-sized angular pieces of rock.
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What is sandstone?
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sand-sized grains of rock.
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What is shale?
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most common sedimentary rock made of very fine-grained sediment.
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What is siltstone?
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Not as fine as shale but still very fine.
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How are detrital rocks formed?
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From the solid products of weathering.
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HOw is chemical sediments formed?
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Material that is carried in solution to lakes and seas.
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What is limestone?
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The most abundant chemical sedimentary rock.
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What are evaporites?
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When the arms of the sea are gone and the deposits are left behind.
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How do you classify detrital rocks?
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Particle size.
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How do you classify chemical rocks?
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Mineral composition.
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What is lithification?
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The process by which sediments are transformed into solid sedimentary rocks.
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What is compaction?
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When sediments accumulate through time, the weight of overlying material compresses the deeper sediments.
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What is cementation?
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When the cementing material are carried in solution by water percolating through the pore spaces between particles.
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What are strata/beds?
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The single most characteristic feature of sedimentary rocks.
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What are fossils?
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The traces or remains of prehistoric life.
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Every metamorphic rock has a parent rock. What is a parent rock?
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The rock from which it was formed.
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Describe metamorphism.
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When preexisting rock is subjected to temperatures and pressures unlike those n which it was formed causing it to change form.
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What is contact or thermal metamorphism?
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when rock is intruded by a magma body.
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What is regional metamorphism?
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When great quantities of rock are subjected to directed pressures and high temperatures associated with large-scale deformation.
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What are the agents of metamorphism?
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Heat, pressure, and chemically active fluids.
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What is contact or thermal metamorphism?
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When rocks experience a rise in temp. when they are intruded by magma rising from below.
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Pressure and heat increase with depth. What is it called when the forces are applied equally in all directions?
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confining pressure.
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What is foliated texture?
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It results whenever the minerals of a rock are brought into parallel alignment.
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What is nonfoliated texture?
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Metamorphic rock that does not exhibit foliation.
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What is foliation?
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The reorientation of the mineral grains into layered or banded appearance.
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What does the term schist describe?
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The texture of rocks regardless of composition.
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What is gneiss (nice)?
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A term applied to banded metamorphic rocks that contain mostly elongated and granular minerals.
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