Chapter 6

Materials of the Earth’s Crust – Rocks

1) What is the most abundant element in the Earth’s Crust? What percentage
of the Earth’s Crust does it form?
Oxygen
47% by weight
2) What is the 2nd abundant element in the Earth’s Crust? What percentage
of the Earth’s Crust does it form?
Silicon
28% by weight
3) Name some of abundant elements in the Earth’s Crust?
Aluminium, Iron, Calcium and Sodium
4) What is the most common mineral found in Earth’s Crust?
Silicates
5) Give some examples of Silicate minerals.
Quartz, felspar and mica
6) On basis of mode of formation in how many types can rocks be
classified?
Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic rocks
7) What Intrusive Igneous rock? What are they also known as?
When magna the molten materials of the Earth’s interior do not reach the
Earth’s surface, they cool and solidify below the surface and are called
Intrusive Igneous rocks.
Example Granite, Diorite, Gabbro
Plutonic rocks
8) Name two types of Intrusive rocks
Sills and dykes
9) What are Sills?
When the magma is being forced upwards, some of it may push its way in
between two layers of rock and solidified there. They are called Sills and
are almost horizontal.
10) What are Dykes?
Magma also forces its way before reaching the main fissure, trying to go
up but gets solidified before reaching the surface. They are called Dykes
and are lying in a slanting direction as an offshoot.
11) How are extrusive igneous rocks formed?
When lava pours out on the Earth’s surface through volcanic eruptions or
fissures, it cools and solidifies to form extrusive igneous rocks
12) How are volcanic plateau are formed?
 Lava may flow as a tongue or sheet. Several lava sheets pile up to form a
plateau
13) What is the most common Extrusive or Volcanic rock? What does
it form? Give examples of Basaltic or lava plateau.
Basalt
It forms lava sheets, lava flows and lava plateaus.
Deccan Plateau (India), Antrim (Northern Ireland) & Columbia
Snake (USA)
14) From where is the word sedimentary derived?
Latin word sedimentum meaning settling down
15) How does the loose particles or sediments get compacted?
The loose particles or sediments get compacted or consolidated into hard
rocks by the presence of cementing substances like lime or overlying
deposits.
16) How are the layers of the sedimentary rocks separated?
By bedding planes
17) Why are sedimentary rocks also known as Stratified rocks?
The sediments get accumulate in different layers or strata arranged one
above the other and thus are known as Stratified rocks
18) What are fossils?
The organic remains or the skeletal impression preserved between the
layers of the sedimentary rocks are known as fossils.
19) What are the types of sedimentary rocks? Name them.
3
 Mechanically formed sedimentary rocks
 Chemically formed sedimentary rocks
 Organically formed sedimentary rocks
20) How are mechanical sediments are derived?
By the process of denudation of the land
21) What are mechanical sediments also called?
Detrital sediments or Clastic sediments
22) Give examples of some Mechanically formed sedimentary rocks.
Conglomerate, Breccia, Sandstone, Grit, Siltstone
23) How are Conglomerate formed?
Rounded pebbles (such as those accumulating in the bed of rivers) get
consolidated to form a rock called Conglomerate.
24) How is Breccia formed?
Angular fragments of gravel (such as those accumulating at the bottom of
the cliff) may get compacted to form rocks called Breccia
25) How is sandstone formed? What helps the consolidation of loose
sand particles into sandstone? What kind of minerals does sandstone
consists of?
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock formed by the consolidation of deposits
of sands.
Remains of shell bearing organisms or lime
Quartz of various colors
26) What is Grit?
A coarse kind of Sandstone is known as grit
27) What is shale or mudstone?
Deposits of clay hardened to form a rock called shale or mudstone
28) What does Siltstone consist of?
Deposits of silt
29) What are the alluvial sediments?
Deposits laid down by rivers are called alluvial sediments
30) What are Moraines?
Deposits laid down by the glaciers are called moraines
31) What are sand dunes?
Sediments of coarse size laid down by the winds are called the sand
dunes
32) What are loess deposits? What are they also called?
Fine wind – borne sediments are known as loess deposits.
Aoelian deposits
33) How are Chemical sediments formed? Give some examples.
Chemical sediments are only commonly formed by the process of
evaporation of water containing salts in solution.
Rock salt, Gypsum, Calcite or dolomite, potash, nitrates,
limestones and magnesium
34) Whare is Rock Salt formed?
Dead Sea, Caspian Sea, Aral Sea and Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan
35) How is Gypsum or calcium sulphate obtained?
Gypsum or calcium sulphate obtained from the evaporation of salt lakes
(such as Dead Sea) which have a very high salinity
36) How are organic sediments derived?
Organic sediments are those derived by the accumulation of remains of
organisms such as shells of marine organisms
37) Give some examples of Organic Sediments.
Corals, Limestone, chalk, coal
38) What are corals?
Corals are shellfish whose fleshy parts have been decomposed
39) What are seams? What are they also called?
Pressure of the overlying sediments convert them into hard coal beads or
seams.
Carbonaceous Rocks
40) How is coal formed?
During carboniferous period (345 – 280 million years ago) lush green
vegetation thrived and then dies in the tropical swamps forming coal.
41) What is petroleum?
It is a rock oil, product of animal and plant decay
42) What are the causes of Metamorphism?
High temperature, pressure or both
43) What is foliation?
Metamorphic rocks have their minerals arranged in a series of bands,
called foliation.
44) Give some examples of Metamorphic rocks?
Marble, Slate, Quartzite, Graphite, Gneiss, Schist
45) From which rocks are Marble, Slate, Quartzite, Graphite, Gneiss,
Schist formed?
Limestone  Marble
Shale  Slate
Sandstone  Quartzite
Coal  Graphite
Granite Gneiss
Basalt Schist
46) What is the use of marble & slate?
Marble is used for making statues and for the constructure of building
Slate is used for roofing of buildings