Rocks

Question 1

What’s a rock?

Answer 1

A hard material that forms in the earths crust

Question 2

What are rocks made of?

Answer 2

They up of minerals that have been cemented together naturally

Question 3

Name the 3 groups of rocks

Answer 3

Igneous ,sedimentary and metamorphic

Question 4

Igneous

Answer 4

Formed from volcanic activity
Magma can cool on the crust or in the crust to form igneous
Examples of igneous rocks are basalt and granite

Question 5

Intrusive

Answer 5

Rocks formed in the crust example granite

Question 6

Extrusive

Answer 6

Rocks formed on the crust example basalt

Question 7

Granite

Answer 7

Intrusive
Formed when molten magma forces its way into the earths crust
Cooled slow to create crystals
Crystals are called quartz
They are pink grey and black

Question 8

How did granite reach the surface?

Answer 8

When the overlaying rocks wore away

Question 9

Where is granite found?

Answer 9

The Wicklow and mourne mountains

Question 10

Basalt

Answer 10

Extrusive
Formed when magma spreads across the earths surface
Has crystals that are very small and invisible to the naked eye
Dark grey and black in colour

Question 11

Where’s basalt found

Answer 11

Giants causeway in Derry and Antrim

Question 12

Sedimentary

Answer 12

Formed from the remains of other rocks, plant life and animal life
Deposited on seas and lakes as well as on land
They are compressed together
E.g. limestone and sandstone

Question 13

Limestone

Answer 13

Formed in shallow warm bodies of from bones and shells that were compressed together
It’s white or grey in colour
It’s permeable
Payed down strata or layers

Question 14

Where’s limestone found?

Answer 14

The burren and the central plain of Ireland

Question 15

Permeable meaning

Answer 15

water can pass through it

Question 16

How’s sandstone made?

Answer 16

Large amounts of sand were worn away from the Earth’s surface and transported by wind and rivers
• The sand was then deposited on the beds of lakes and seas as well as in deserts
• Deposits built up and were compressed and cemented to form sandstone

Question 17

What colour is sandstone?

Answer 17

• Can vary in colour from brown to red

Question 18

Where’s sandstone found?

Answer 18

• Found in the mountains of Munster eg the Galtees, the Comeraghs and the Macgillycuddy Reeks

Sandstone
• Found in mountains of Munster

Question 19

How’s sandstone Laid ?

Answer 19

Sandstone is laid down
in layers called strata. The divisions between the strata are called
bedding planes

Question 20

Metamorphic Rock

Answer 20

When Igneous or sedimentary rocks come into contact with heat or pressure
• They change in shape and form
This makes it a metamorphic rock
• Eg Marble and Quartzite

Question 21

Marble

Answer 21

• Pure marble is white but the presence of other minerals and change the colour to red, black or green
• It is a hard rock that contains crystals
• It can be cut easily and polished

Question 22

How’s marble formed ?

Answer 22

• Molten magma forces it’s way into a body of limestone and when the rock exposed to great heat and pressure it converts to marble

Question 23

Where’s marble found?

Answer 23

• Rathlin Island – white, Connemara- green , Cork – red and Kilkenny – black ( this is a limestone)

Question 24

Quartzite

Answer 24

• Sandstone

• Varies from grey to white
• Hard rock and forms a cap on many mountains eg Croagh Patrick, Mount Errigal, Sugarloaf

Question 25

How’s quartzite formed?

Answer 25

• sandstone Came into contact with magma deep in the crust usually during
periods of folding.
• Put under intense pressure and exposed to heat
• The grains of quartz are packed tightly together

Question 26

Freeze-Thaw Action

Answer 26

Freeze-thaw occurs when water continually seeps into cracks, freezes and expands, eventually breaking the rock apart. The rock falls to the bottom of the height and turns into scree

Question 27

What’s scree

Answer 27

Scree is broken rock from freeze thaw action

Question 28

Carbonation

Answer 28

Carbonation occurs in areas where bare limestone rock
is exposed to the weather.

Question 29

Karst Landscapes

Answer 29

Areas where carbonation occurs are called karst landscapes.