Name: ______________________________
Rock Cycle Study Guide
Pd: _____
Ast. #: _____
I. Write the term on the line that best fits each description.
1. _________________________ Naturally occurring solid mixture composed of minerals, small rock
fragments, organic matter, and/or glass.
2. _________________________ Melted rock material that is below the surface of the Earth.
3. _________________________ Melted rock material that is above the surface of the Earth.
4. _________________________ Type of rock that forms when magma/lava cools and crystallizes.
5. _________________________ Small rock fragments that are eroded away from exposed rock surfaces
due to weathering processes such as wind, water, or ice.
6. _________________________ When sediment is laid down in a new location.
7. _________________________ Type of rock that forms when layers of sediment are compacted and
cemented together.
8. _________________________ The process of compaction and cementation.
9. _________________________ 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 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?
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?
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?
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?
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?
16. Sedimentary rock can only form out of one substance. Identify this substance and the process which
turns it into sedimentary rock.
17. Igneous rock can only form out of one substance. Identify this substance and the process which turns it
into igneous rock.
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.
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.
20. Are magma and lava the same thing? Explain your answer.
III. Fill in the missing labels on the rock cycle diagram below.
21) ____________________
24) ____________________
25) ____________________
22) ____________________
23) ____________________