Name: ______________________________ Pd: _____ Ast. #: _____
Rock Cycle Study Guide
I. Write the term on the line that best fits each description.
1. Rock - Naturally occurring solid mixture composed of minerals, small rock fragments, organic
matter, and/or glass.
2. Magma - Melted rock material that is below the surface of the Earth.
3. Lava - Melted rock material that is above the surface of the Earth.
4. Igneous - Type of rock that forms when magma/lava cools and crystallizes.
5. Sediment - Small rock fragments that are eroded away from exposed rock surfaces due to
weathering processes such as wind, water, or ice.
6. Deposition - When sediment is laid down in a new location.
7. Sedimentary - Type of rock that forms when layers of sediment are compacted and cemented
together.
8. Lithification - The process of compaction and cementation.
9. Metamorphic - Type of rock that forms deep within the Earth from other rocks as a result of
intense heat and pressure (but is not melted).
10. The Rock Cycle - The continuous series of geologic processes which change rock from one type
to another over time.
II. Answer the following questions about the rock cycle.
11. Which type of rock is the most abundant on Earth?
Igneous Rock
12. When fragments of calcium carbonate (including skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as
coral) are buried under layer after layer of sediment, they are compacted by the pressure of overlying
layers and cemented together by minerals. Over time, this process forms limestone, a very common
rock in Florida. What type of rock would you classify limestone as? Why?
Sedimentary, because it forms when sediment is compacted and cemented.
13. When lava cools very rapidly it creates an extremely smooth, glassy rock called obsidian. What
type of rock would you classify obsidian as? Why?
Igneous, because if forms from lava/magma that cools and hardens.
14. When limestone (a type of sedimentary rock) is buried deep within the Earth and exposed to
intense heat and pressure, it is changed into marble. What type of rock would you classify marble as?
Why?
Metamorphic, because it forms from another type of rock under intense heat and pressure.
15. Only one of the three main types of rock can form from the other two types of rock. Which is it,
and what process allows it to form out of the other rock types?
Metamorphic – intense heat and pressure
16. Sedimentary rock can only form out of one substance. Identify this substance and the process
which turns it into sedimentary rock.
Sediment – compaction and cementation
17. Igneous rock can only form out of one substance. Identify this substance and the process which
turns it into igneous rock.
Magma/Lava – cooling
18. Due to the abundance of volcanoes in Hawaii, what type of rock would you expect to be very
common on the Hawaiian Islands? Explain your answer.
Igneous Rocks, because the lava from the volcanoes cools and hardens.
19. Because many rivers run into the Gulf of Mexico, you would expect gulf-states such as Florida,
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas to have an abundance of which type of rock? Explain
your answer.
Sedimentary, because the rivers carry sediment and deposit it in layers.
20. Are magma and lava the same thing? Explain your answer.
Magma and Lava are both melted rock, but magma is below the surface while lava is above it.
III. Fill in the missing labels on the rock cycle diagram below.