13. Building The Crust With Rocks

Question 1

mineral

Answer 1

a naturally occurring crystalline, solid chemical element or compound with a uniform chemical composition

Question 2

crystallization

Answer 2

a process in which atoms or molecules come together in an orderly patterned structure

Question 3

rock

Answer 3

a solid mass composed of minerals or volcanic glass

Question 4

sediment

Answer 4

an accumulation of small fragments of rock and organic material that is not cemented together

Question 5

outcrop

Answer 5

an exposed area of bedrock

Question 6

igneous rock

Answer 6

rock that has cooled from magma or lava

Question 7

sedimentary rock

Answer 7

rock formed from compacted and cemented sediments

Question 8

metamorphic rock

Answer 8

rock formed by heat and pressure applied to preexisting rock

Question 9

rock cycle

Answer 9

a model of the processes by which rocks form, are transformed from one type to another, and are recycled into the mantle

Question 10

lithification

Answer 10

the formation of sedimentary rock through compaction and cementation of loose sediments

Question 11

cementation

Answer 11

a process in which minerals fill the spaces between loose particles and bind them together to form sedimentary rock

Question 12

decompression melting

Answer 12

the melting of hot mantle material into magma as a result of changes in pressure, which lower the melting point of the rock; occurs as mantle material rises to a shallow depth in the lithosphere

Question 13

flux melting

Answer 13

process by which subducted water lowers the melting point of mantle material and causes it to melt

Question 14

extrusive igneous rock

Answer 14

(or volcanic rock) rock that has cooled from lava on the crust’s surface

Question 15

intrusive igneous rock

Answer 15

rock that has cooled from magma below the crust’s surface

Question 16

batholith

Answer 16

a body of intrusive igneous rock hundreds of kilometres in extent and formed by the movement and fusion of numerous plutons

Question 17

pluton

Answer 17

a dome-shaped igneous rock mass of no more than a few tens of kilometres in diameter

Question 18

sill

Answer 18

a horizontal sheet of igneous rock that was injected between layers of preexisting rock

Question 19

dike

Answer 19

a sheetlike vertical igneous rock formation

Question 20

laccolith

Answer 20

a shallow, dome-shaped igneous rock body

Question 21

exhumation

Answer 21

the removal of overlying rock and sediment to expose deeper rocks at the surface

Question 22

clastic sedimentary rock

Answer 22

sedimentary rock composed of broken pieces of other rocks

Question 23

organic sedimentary rock

Answer 23

sedimentary rock composed mostly of organic material and derived from ancient organisms

Question 24

chemical sedimentary rock

Answer 24

sedimentary rock that forms as dissolved minerals are precipitated out and as water evaporates

Question 25

shale

Answer 25

a clastic sedimentary rock formed from clay

Question 26

sandstone

Answer 26

a clastic sedimentary rock composed chiefly of quartz sand grains

Question 27

limestone

Answer 27

a chemical sedimentary rock composed mostly of calcite

Question 28

coal

Answer 28

an organic rock formed from the remains of terrestrial wetland forests and widely used today as a fuel source

Question 29

peat

Answer 29

a brownish-black, heavy soil found in wetlands, formed from the partially decomposed remains of plants

Question 30

evaporite

Answer 30

a deposit of one or more minerals resulting from the repeated evaporation of water from a basin

Question 31

fossil

Answer 31

the remains or the impression of an organism preserved in sedimentary rock

Question 32

protolith

Answer 32

the parent or original rock from which metamorphic rock was formed

Question 33

fracking

Answer 33

the procedure by which water is pumped under high pressure into a shale formation to extract natural gas and oil