The Rock Cycle

Some people believe that "once a rock, always that rock".  But that is not always true.  Rocks take different
forms at different times.  A long time ago our earth was very volcanic.  As these volcanoes cooled and vast
oceans swept over the earth, the cooled lava was broken or crushed into small pieces.  These small pieces were
cemented together to become sedimentary rocks.  These rocks were buried and the heat and pressure changed
them into metamorphic rocks.  They might even have melted and become igneous rocks once more.  As you can
tell a rock may change many times and the rock you hold today may look entirely different to someone a long
time from now.

Look at the diagram below and see if you can trace a rock through the rock cycle.

What is the Rock Cycle?

Like most Earth materials, rocks are created and destroyed in cycles. The rock cycle is a model that describes
the formation, breakdown, and reformation of a rock as a result of sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic
processes. All rocks are made up of minerals. A mineral is defined as a naturally occurring, crystalline solid of
definite chemical composition and a characteristic crystal structure. A rock is any naturally formed, nonliving,
firm, and coherent aggregate mass of solid matter that constitutes part of a planet.

Igneous rocks- form in two very different environments. All igneous rocks start out as melted rock, (magma)
and then crystallize, or freeze.  Bowen's Reaction Series is a proposed sequence of mineral crystallization from
basaltic magma, based on experimental evidence. Volcanic processes form extrusive igneous rocks. Extrusive
rocks cool quickly on or very near the surface of the earth. Fast cooling makes crystals too small to see without
some kind of magnifier. Basalt is dark rock, gray or black on a freshly broken surface, and weathers brown or
red, because it contains lots of dark-colored minerals. 
 Some basalt contains light-colored crystals. Dacite and andesite are medium in color,
and contains medium amounts of dark minerals.  Rhyolite is the lightest colored
volcanic rock. Rhyolite contains very few dark minerals, but sometimes, rhyolite cools
so fast that it quenches and forms volcanic glass instead of crystallizing. Volcanic glass
looks dark because of the way light passes through it. Obsidian is volcanic glass.
Rhyolite is the most common source of volcanic ash and pumice in Idaho.   Intrusive
igneous rocks cool in plutons (Pluto was the Roman god of the Underworld.) deep
below the surface of the Earth. Slow cooling allows the growth of large crystals.
Crystals in intrusive rocks are visible without magnification. Granite has the same minerals as rhyolite, but in
much larger crystals. Diorite is the intrusive version of andesite, granodiorite is the intrusive version of dacite,
and gabbro is the intrusive version of basalt.
Metamorphic Rock- Metamorphic rocks form when sedimentary, igneous, or other metamorphic rocks are
subjected to heat and pressure from burial or contact with intrusive or extrusive igneous rocks. ("Meta" means
change, and "morph" means form.) Heat and pressure from burial cause molecules of flat minerals like mica to
line up perpendicular to the direction of greatest compression. Deep burial means higher pressure and hotter
temperatures, and very high temperature and pressures cause the formation of new minerals, and mineral
grains. Low-grade metamorphic rocks like slate and phyllite break in flat pieces, and have a sheen on the
surface. Schist is shiny, and many schists contain garnets, staurolites or other mineral crystals that have grown
within the rock. Gneiss is a foliated metamorphic rock. Layers of dark and light minerals stripe the rock, and
sometimes it is possible to see how the direction of pressure deep in the Earth changed as the minerals formed.
The change in direction forms eye-shaped pods of minerals, called augens ("augen" is German for
"eye.") Quartzite is another important metamorphic rock in Idaho. Quartzite is metamorphosed sandstone. Some
Idaho quartzite is so pure that it can be used to make computer chips. The most common contact metamorphic
rock in Idaho is marble.  The Portneuf Gap area provides good examples of Idaho marble. Marble forms when
limestone is intruded by a pluton which heats the limestone.

Sedimentary Rock- Sedimentary rocks are those rocks made up of pieces of other

rocks. We call the pieces of rock "clasts" (Clast means "broken piece"). A clast is a
piece of rock broken off of another rock. Clasts of rock are eroded from larger rocks,
transported (moved) by wind or water and deposited in a basin.After some period of
time, the clasts are lithified (lithos is the Greek word for stone). The sedimentary rocks
we see today were once gravel, sand, silt, mud, or living things. We decide what to name
sedimentary rocks based on thesize of the clasts that make up the rock. For most
sedimentary rocks, this is easy. Sandstone is made of sand, siltstone is made of silt,
mudstone is made of mud and so on. Even volcanic ash can become sedimentary rock!
The only hard ones to remember are conglomerate and breccia. Conglomerates are made up of rounded, gravel-
size particles (To a geologist, gravel is anything from 2mm to 4 meters in diameter), and breccia is made up of
angular, sharp-edged, gravel-sized clasts. Limestone and chert are classified as sedimentary rocks, but most
limestone and chert are grown by living organisms rather than broken from other rocks. Some limestones have
fossils, but most limestones and cherts have recrystallized, and the remains of the creatures that made them are
no longer visible. 

Terms:
Cementation- The process by which clastic sediment is lithified by precipitation of mineral cement, such as
calcite cement, among the grains of the sediment.

Compaction- Tighter packing of sedimentary grains causing weak lithification and a decrease in porosity,
usually from the weight of overlying sediment.

Deposition- The settling of materials out of a transporting medium.

Erosion- The processes that loosen sediment and move it from one place to another on Earth's surface. Agents
of erosion include water, ice, wind, and gravity.

Lithification- The processes by which sediment is converted into sedimentary rock. These processes include
cementation and compaction.

Magma- Molten rock, generally a silicate melt with suspended crystals and dissolved gases.

Melting- To go from a solid state to a liquid state.

Metamorphism- Alteration of the minerals and textures of a rock by changes in temperature and pressure,
and/or by a gain or loss of chemical components.

Pressure- The force per unit of area exerted upon something, such as on a surface.

Sediment- Material (such as gravel, sand, mud, and lime) that is transported and deposited by wind, water, ice,
or gravity; material that is precipitated from solution; deposits of organic origin (such as coal and coral reefs).

Transportation- The processes that carry sediment or other materials away from their point of origin.
Transporting media include wind, water and mantle convection currents
Uplift-A structurally high area in the crust, produced by movements that raise the rocks, as in a broad dome or
arch.Weathering- The processes by which rocks are chemically altered or physically broken into fragments as a
result of exposure to atmospheric agents and the pressures and temperatures at or near Earth's surface, with little
or no transportation of the loosened or altered materials.

The Rock Cycle is a group of changes. Igneous rock can change into sedimentary rock or into metamorphic
rock. Sedimentary rock can change into metamorphic rock or into igneous rock. Metamorphic rock can change
into igneous or sedimentary rock.

Igneous rock forms when magma cools and makes crystals. Magma is a hot liquid made of melted minerals.
The minerals can form crystals when they cool. Igneous rock can form underground, where the magma cools
slowly. Or, igneous rock can form above ground, where the magma cools quickly.

When it pours out on Earth's surface, magma is called lava. Yes, the same liquid rock matter that you see
coming out of volcanoes.

On Earth's surface, wind and water can break rock into pieces. They
can also carry rock pieces to another place. Usually, the rock pieces,
called sediments, drop from the wind or water to make a layer. The
layer can be buried under other layers of sediments. After a long time
the sediments can be cemented together to make sedimentary rock. In
this way, igneous rock can become sedimentary rock.

All rock can be heated. But where does the heat come from? Inside
Earth there is heat from pressure (push your hands together very hard
and feel the heat). There is heat from friction (rub your hands together
and feel the heat). There is also heat from radioactive decay (the
process that gives us nuclear power plants that make electricity).

So, what does the heat do to the rock? It bakes the rock.

Baked rock does not melt, but it does change. It forms crystals. If it has crystals already, it forms larger crystals.
Because this rock changes, it is called metamorphic. Remember that a caterpillar changes to become a butterfly.
That change is called metamorphosis. Metamorphosis can occur in rock when they are heated to 300 to 700
degrees Celsius.

When Earth's tectonic plates move around, they produce heat. When they collide, they build mountains and
metamorphose (met-ah-MORE-foes) the rock.

The rock cycle continues. Mountains made of metamorphic rocks can be broken up and washed away by
streams. New sediments from these mountains can make new sedimentary rock.

The rock cycle never stops.