Rock Cycle Flashcards
What is the study of the earth and rocks called?
geology
Why is studying the earth important?
- the rocks beneath us hold the clue to what has come before us and how the earth looked along time ago.
- many of the things we used now is made up from the minerals that are mined and aren’t infinite in volume.
What are the three types of rocks?
Igneous
Sedimentary
Metaphoric
What is a rock?
a general term that is used to describe the hard stuff which makes up the most of our planet.
What are rocks made up of?
minerals (these might be the collections of different types of atoms that have come together). The atoms are mainly oxygen or silicone and other stuff like metal.
What is an Igneous Rock?
a rock that is made from lava or magma cooling
What are the factors that decide appearance of the
Igneous Rock? (2 factors)
- how quickly the lava or magma cools
- what is contained in the rock before cooling
What are the two types of Igneous Rocks?
extrusive and intrusive
What is extrusive?
when the magma or lava above the earths surface.
What is the intrusive?
when the magma or lava below the earths surface.
What are types of extrusive rocks?
- Pumice; formed when lava shout out and is cooled fast (full of gas and contains water)
- Scoria; heavier and darker ad contains iron
- Basalt; very common (found in gravel) and used to make bitumen.
- Obsidian; glossy looking black rock.
What are types of intrusive rocks?
- Granite; very hard rock that forms underground (can be mixtures of colours)
- Crystal Formation; when igneous rocks combine and come together in particular shapes and form into crystals.
What determines that crystals comes in different shapes, sizes and colours?
how quickly or slowly the minerals are cooled and other stuff in it.
factors which help fast cooling?
air or water. Forms small crystals
where does slow cooling occur?
underground and form big crystals
What are the 6 characteristics that help us identify minerals?
- Luster; shine
- Streak; powdery mark when minerals are scraped
- Hardness; use Moh’s scale for this
- Colour; quartz have more than one colour
- Chevage; tendency of the minerals to break along the flat surface
- Chemical reaction; weak acid to tell if the rock or minerals contain calcium carbonate (the rock will fizz if it does).
What is the moh scale?
determines the ability or the hardness of the mineral to resist the scratch
what are metals that are naturally found?
gold, sliver and copper
what does the moh scale hardness mean?
Moh’s scale hardness is based on the ability of the mineral to scratch another mineral visibly
what is the hardest mineral?
diamond (scale 10)
what is the softest mineral?
talk (scale 1); found in pencil scale
where is alluminiun found?
in hydrogen and oxygen and is called boxiicide
where is iron found?
in oxygen and it’s called iron oxide
what is a large body of igneous rock called?
Bartholin
What is the formation of sedimentary rocks?
- bits and pieces of sediment are layed down in sediment beds and form layer
- as more sediment is layed down the stuff underneath gets more tightly packed. Rainfall dissolves some of the minerals and create space between the sediment particles.
- The dissolved minerals form a kind of cement that hold the particles together.
How are the different layers of the sediment rocks are formed?
- all rocks are exposed to weathering and erosion.
- Small pieces called the sediment are carried away which form the basis of the sedimentary rocks.
- Sedimentary rocks form in layers.
- the lower layers are older since they were created earlier.
what is a fossil?
fossil is the persevered remains that are imprinted on the rocks of plant or animals usually lived a long time ago.
what are the study of the fossils called?
paleontology
what is the total number of fossil and their placement with the rock are called?
fossil record
What is the formation of fossils?
Stage 1; a dinosaur dies and its buried before its remains are completely destroyed
Stage 2; Over time layers of sediment build up and press down on the buried.
Stage 3; dissolved minerals carried by water in the sediment filled tiny spaces in the bones. Pressure, chemical reaction and time turns the sediment into rock and bones into mineralized fossils.
Stage 4; the fossils remain within the rock until its uncovered through erosion or excavation.
5 different types of fossils or 5 different ways fossils are formed?
Permineralization; when dissolved mineral fill the cellular space of plants and animals, these dissolved minerals crystalize and produce rocks in the shape of animals and plants. (most common type of fossil preservation).
Natural Cast; it is formed when flowing water removes the original bone or tissue leaving an impression in the sediment. Minerals fill the mold, which recreates the original shape of the organism.
Trace Fossils; they record the activity of an organism
Amber; preserved organism becomes trapped in the tree resign that hardness into amber after the tree gets burred.
Preserved remains; record intact remains of animals often persevered in skin, muscle, bone, hair and internal organs.
what are example of Permineralization fossils?
teeth, bones, shells
what are examples of Natural cast fossils?
commonly marine invertebrates, like shells
What examples pf trace fossils?
nest, borrow, imprint of leaves, footprints or poo
what are types of amber fossils?
insects, pollen, lizards and frogs
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what is weathering?
weathering is the breaking down of the small particles and solids through natural processes like wind or water
