Unit 3-Rock cycle

Rock cycle

A cycle where rock materials are constantly being recycled and each rock type can become a different type through out this cycle

Soil

A material that usually is consisting of organic remains,rock particles,and clay that is black or dark brown,this is where plants grow and is the top layer of the earth

Carbonation

A mixture of carbon dioxide gas and water

Laterite

A reddish clay like material rich in iron and aluminum oxides formed by weathering

Clastic sedimentary

A rock formed from fragments of other rocks that have been weathered and eroded

chemical sedimentary

A rock that is formed from minerals that were once dissolved in water

Organic sedimentary

A rock the is formed from the remains or traces of animals and/or plants

Mineral

A substance that is inorganic and is happening naturally

Chemical weathering

An erosion of rocks caused by a chemical reaction

Ripple marks

Are formed from the action of wind or water on sand

Foliation

Being split into thin pieces

Hydrolysis

Chemical breakdown of a compound due to a reaction with water;water breaking

soil profile

Cross sections where layers of soil and bedrock can be seen

epicenter

Exact point on the surface of earth directly above the location of where the earthquake occurs

Sedimentary

Fragments that result from the breaking (weathering) of rocks, minerals, and organic matter.

Mafic

Igneous rocks that are dark-colored minerals

Felsic

Igneous rocks that are light-colored minerals

Abrasion

Is the scraping of the surface of a rock due to friction or moving particles mostly during wind,erosion,glaciers,waves,ect.

Sand

Largest particle size(0.06 mm-2 mm)

stratification

Layering which occurs there is a change in the kind of sediment that is deposited

Soil Horizon

Layers parallel to the soils surface who's characteristics are different from the layers above and beneath

Silt

Medium particle size(0.002 mm-0.06 mm) is weathered from rocks that have quartz

Mass Movement

Movement of surface due to gravity

Rift valley

Occurs when there are two plates spreading apart

Erosion

Removing of rocks and soil by natural causes

Metamorphic

Rocks formed form existing rocks with heat and pressure-the heat is from magma and pressure from the tectonic plates

Igneous

Rocks that are formed from the cooling of liquid rock

Extrusive igneous

Rocks that form deep beneath the earth

Intrusive igneous

Rocks that form on/near the earths surface

Frothy

Small bubbles in a rock

Porphyry

Small crystal in an igneous rock

Oxidation

The results/process of combining or being combined chemically with oxygen

Exfoliation

This involves the removal of the oldest dead skin cells on the skins outmost surface

Weathering

To wear away or change the appearance/texture by natural causes

Mechanical Weathering

When a rock is broken down into smaller pieces of the same material

Contact metamorphism

When hot magma pushes through existing rock and changes the structure and composition of the surrounding rock

Physical Weathering

When rocks are breaking apart but without changing the chemical composition

Compaction

When sediments are pushed together and compacted

Regional metamorphic

When tectonic plates push against each other causing heat and pressure that chemically changes the minerals in the rock

Precipitation

When the minerals clump together and fall out of solution

Evaporation

When water evaporates and leaves the dissolved minerals behind

Cementation

When water passes through the sediments and dissolved minerals left behind act as a cement to hold the sediments together which hardens the sediments

Talus

a pile of rocks that gather up at the bottom of a slope

Gravitational potential energy

energy an object possesses

faults

fracture in a rock in which there is movement

fault zones

large expanses of rock where movement has occured

Regolith

layer of weathered rock fragments

Richter scale

measure the magnitude of an earthquake

Subduction

one plate passing under another

Athenosphere

outer part of the mantle

hot spots

places where molten material from the mantle reaches lithosphere

Humus

plant or animal material

continental plates

plates that lie beneath landmasses

oceanic plates

plates that lie beneath the oceans

divergent plate boundaries

plates that move away from each other

transform fault

plates that move sideways past eachother

convergent plates

plates that move towards one another and collide

Lithification

process which turns sediment into a sedimentary rock by compaction and cementation

Pedocal

receives less than 65 cm of rain a year contains Ca, less acidic, very fertile;found W. of Mississippi river

Pedalfur

receives more than 65 cm of rain a year contains mostly clay, quartz and iron; acidic;found E. of Mississippi river

Deposition

settlements moving from one location and settling in another location

Clay

smallest particle(less than 0.002 mm) is weathered from rocks that have feldspar or aluminum

Mechanical potential energy

sum of potential and kinetic energy

Parent rock

the original rock from something else that was formed

Bed rock

unweathered rock that is solid beneath the regolith

lithosphere

upper mantle and crust

Frost Wedging

when freezing and unfreezing is happening of water in highly cold weather so when the water freezes this expands,this is a form of physical weathering

seafloor spreading

when oceanic plates move apart

Pangea

when the continents were once joined in one single continent