Week 2 Course Notes: Section 4.0 Flashcards
What is it meant by the composition and texture of igneous rocks?
Composition - minerals that comprise the rock
Texture - size, arrangement and shape of those minerals
How is pillow lava formed?
Through rapid cooling of lava underwater causing it to contract
Differentiate Weathering and Erosion
Weathering is the general process by which rocks at the Earth’s surface are broken down by chemical or physical processes, whereas Erosion is the movement of weathered material.
What are the 3 primary processes of chemical weathering?
- Oxidation
- Hydrolosis
- Leaching & Dissolution
What is oxidation in regards to weathering?
A reaction where an element combines with oxygen, with water often being the oxidizing agent
What is hydrolosis in regards to weathering?
Decomposition reactions involving water, in particular H+ ions
What is leaching in regards to weathering?
The process where chemical elements are removed by water from a rock undergoing weathering.
What is bedding?
Horizontal layering of sedimentary rocks
What is the transition of one bed to another?
the contact
List the following in order of size (smallest to largest):
- Sandstone
- Conglomerate
- Shale
- Siltstone
- Shale
- Siltstone
- Sandstone
- Conglomerate
What are some common organic sedimentary rocks?
- Limestone
- Coal
- Chalk
What does it mean that metamorphic rocks are generally solid-state reactions?
The changes in chemical and physical structure of the rock occur without melting
What are the two things that metamorphism changes in a rock?
- Texture
- Mineralogy
What is the process in metamorphism where by rocks and minerals are crushed, broken, bent and transformed?
Deformation
What does the parallel alignment of minerals in metamorphic rocks produce?
Foliation
