draw and annotate the rock cycle add example of each type of rock
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Answer:
The Rock Cycle is Earth’s great recycling process where igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks can all be derived from and form one another. Analogous to recycling a Coke can, where an old can will be used to produce a new can, the rock cycle is ever changing the rocks and minerals that make up Earth. Here we will explore this process in light of teaching kids and a bit about how the ground beneath them works.
This guide is meant to be a high level overview of how rocks are formed, the processes that transform rocks and minerals, and how they are destroyed. We will follow a pseudo “life” of a rock from igneous to sedimentary to metamorphic and beyond.
3 Types of Rocks
To start to understand the rock cycle we must first understand the three primary types of rocks: sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic. These rocks are differentiated by their physical properties, chemistry, biology (fossils), but mostly by their origin.
Metamorphic rocks are a formed from the partial melting of previously existing material, either sedimentary, igneous, or older metamorphic rocks. Metamorphic rocks are dependent on the degree of melting, where complete melting “resets” the rock to magma and will then form igneous rocks when cooled.
Igneous rocks are formed from cooling magma deep in Earth’s crust or mantle. This cooling magma crystalizes to form rocks like the granite in your house. A rock that cools within Earth’s crust will cool very slowly and form larger crystals and is called an intrusive igneous rock. Magma that is ejected to the surface of Earth a volcanic eruption or at a spreading center cools very quickly, contains small crystals typically and is called an extrusive igneous rock
The Rock Cycle is Earth’s great recycling process where igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks can all be derived from and form one another. Analogous to recycling a Coke can, where an old can will be used to produce a new can, the rock cycle is ever changing the rocks and minerals that make up Earth. Here we will explore this process in light of teaching kids and a bit about how the ground beneath them works.
This guide is meant to be a high level overview of how rocks are formed, the processes that transform rocks and minerals, and how they are destroyed. We will follow a pseudo “life” of a rock from igneous to sedimentary to metamorphic and beyond.
The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks. – Tennessee Williams
The rock cycle by definition is a natural process by which sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks are created, changed from one type to another, and destroyed. But how do we go from the dirt you feel under your feet or the sand on a beach to a metamorphic rock? Where does sand on a beach come from and why are all the sand grains uniform in size, color, and shape? These are all questions that the rock cycle answers.
3 Types of Rocks
To start to understand the rock cycle we must first understand the three primary types of rocks: sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic. These rocks are differentiated by their physical properties, chemistry, biology (fossils), but mostly by their origin.
Sedimentary rocks are rocks formed from the compression of sediments, dirt, or sand we see on the surface of Earth today. As you bury sediment deeper and deeper into the crust, temperatures and pressures increase to the point that the individual grains are cemented together or lithified. Sediments can be either abiogenic or biogenically sourced. Sedimentary rocks often contain fossils from marine organisms or are entirely made up of fossils in the case of many carbonates around the world.
