Rocks Vocabulary

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Rock

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Naturally occurring solid mixture of one or more minerals and organic matter.

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Rock Cycle

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The continual process by which new rock forms from old rock material.

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Weathering

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Process in which water, wind, ice, and heat break down rocks into fragments.

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Erosion

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Process by which wind, water, ice, or gravity transports soil and sediment.

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Deposition

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Process in which mineral is laid down.

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Uplift

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Movement within the Earth that causes rocks to move towards the Earth's surface.

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Composition

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Chemical makeup of a rock.

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Magma

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Hot liquid that forms when a rock partially or completely melts; can't form if too much pressure

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Texture

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Quality of a rock based on size, shape, and position of grains.

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Steps of Rock Cycle

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1. Sediment washes to water

2. Forms thick layers

3. Compact and cement into sedimentary rock

4. Heat and pressure heat squeeze into metamorphic rock

5. Melts when in contact with magma

6. Rise (less dense), cools, and solidifies into igneous rock

7. Igneous rock exposed

8. Igneous rock weathers and wears into grains/sediment

9. Grains/sediment transported and deposited

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Igneous Rock

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Rock that forms when hot, liquid rock, or magma, cools and solidifies.

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Felsic Rocks

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Light rocks; rich in aluminum, potassium, silica, and sodium

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Mafic Rocks

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Dark rocks; rich in calcium, iron, and magnesium

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Intrusive Igneous Rocks

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Rock formed from the cooling and solidification of magma the beneath Earth's surface.

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Extensive Igneous Rock

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Rock that forms as a result of volcanic activity at or near the Earth's surface.

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Fissures

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Long cracks on the Earth's crust

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Metamorphic Rocks

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Rocks in which the structure, texture, or composition if a rock has changed; caused by heat, pressure, or chemical changes

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Contact Metamorphism

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Heated by nearby magma to make new rock

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Regional Metamorphism

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Pressure builds up in rock deep below other rock formations or large pieces of crust collide to form rock

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Index Minerals

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Minerals that form only in metamorphic rock or at certain temperatures and pressure

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Foliated

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Texture of metamorphic rock where the mineral grains are arranged in planes or bands; perpendicular to force; increases with heat and pressure

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Nonfoliated

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Texture of metamorphic rock where the mineral grains are not arranged in planes or bands

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Recrystallization

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Process where metamorphic rock mineral crystals change in size or the mineral changes composition

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Deformation

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A change in the shape of a rock caused by force placed on it

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Porphyritic

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Both fine and coarse texture

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Intrusion

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When magma cuts between other layers than cools and solidifies

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Vesicular

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Texture with bubbles

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Sediment

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Rock and mineral fragments

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Strata

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Layer of rock (singular stratum)

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Clastic Sedimentary Rock

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Forms when clasts are cemented together

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Clasts

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Rock or mineral fragments

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Chemical Sedimentary Rock

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Forms when minerals crystallize out of a solution to become rock

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Organic Sedimentary Rock

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Forms from the remains of once living plants and animals

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Stratification

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Process where sedimentary rocks are arranged in layers

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Lithification

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Becomes a rock

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Matrix

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Minerals that bind clasts in sedimentary rock together