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Name: _____Key___________
Date: ___________________
Period: ___________________
The Rock Cycle Guided Reading
Page 28-34
What is one thing Earth recycles naturally? Rock
Rock is a naturally occurring solid mixture of one or more minerals and organic
matter
Rock Cycle - the continual process by which new rock forms from old rock
material.
Name three things rock has been used as for centuries
1: ____Buildings__________________
2: _____Monuments_______________
3: _____Roads___________________
Processes that Shape the Earth
List the five processes that make and destroy rock and explain each one.
1. Weathering - process in which wind, water, ice and heat break down rock.
Important Because:
Breaks rocks into fragments
Fragments make up sedimentary rock
2. Erosion - process in which sediment is removed from its source
Water, wind, ice and gravity can erode and move sediments and cause them to
collect.
3. Deposition - process in which sediment moved by erosion is dropped and
comes to rest.
What happens when sediment is deposited in bodies of water and other low-lying
areas?
Sediment may be pressed and cemented together by minerals dissolved in water
to form sedimentary rock.
4. and 5. Heat and Pressure can cause three things to happen
Sedimentary Rock can form when buried sediment is squeezed (pressure)
by the weight of overlying) layers of sediment
High temperature and pressure at the bottom of the sediment can cause the rock
to change into metamorphic rock.
If the rock gets hot enough to melt, magma is created. The magma
eventually cools to form igneous rock.
What is Uplift? (page 29)
Movement within the Earth that causes rocks inside Earth to move to Earth’s
surface.
What happens when uplifted rock reaches Earth’s surface?
Weathering, Erosion, Deposition
Round and Round it Goes
Sedimentary Rock
Weathering
and Erosion
Heat and
Pressure
Weathering
and Erosion
Metamorphic
Rock
Igneous Rock
Cooling
Melting
Magma
The location of a rock determines which natural forces will have the biggest
impact on the process of change.
An example, rock at Earth’s surface is primarily affected by forces of weathering
and erosion, while rocks inside the Earth can change because of extreme heat
and pressure.
Composition – The chemical make-up of a rock; describes either the minerals or
other materials in the rock.
Texture - The quality of a rock that is based on the sizes, shapes, and positions
of the rock’s grains.
The texture of a rock can provide clues as to how and where the rock formed.