Rock Cycle

A cool trip around the rock cycle

What is a rock?

A rock is a mixture of such minerals, rock fragments, volcanic glass, organic matter, or other natural materials. Most rock used for building stone contains one or more common minerals, called rock-forming minerals, such as quartz, feldspar, mica, or calcite When you look closely, the sparkles you see are individual crystals of minerals.

What is the difference between a rock & a mineral?

Minerals are solid, naturally occurring, inorganic, have a fixed composition and are made of one or more elements. Rocks are made of one or more minerals.

Made of elements

Must be inorganic
Made only of compounds Elements must be chemically bonded

Solid

Can be made from organic materials

Can be made of lava/ magma

Mixtures made of minerals

Naturally occurring

Have crystals
Can be formed from solutions

Can be

man made

Rock Types

There are three types of rocks

Igneous

Sedimentary

Metamorphic

What is the rock cycle?

To show how rocks slowly change through time, scientists have created a model called the rock cycle. It illustrates the processes that create and change rocks.

Rock Cycle Continued

The rock cycle shows the three types of rock igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentaryand the processes that form them.

explains how Rocks and Natural Processes are related

The
Sedimentary
weathering

Rock Cycle

Metamorphic

Igneous

What is the law of conservation of matter?

Law of conservation of matter states that matter cannot be created or destroyed.

The changes that take place in the rock cycle never destroy or create matter. The elements are just redistributed in other forms.