Earth Science Suggestions

1. List the stages in the evolution of the earth and explain each stage in brief.
The earth was mostly in a volatile state during its primordial stage. Due to gradual
increase in density the temperature inside has increased. As a result the material inside
started getting separated depending on their densities. This allowed heavier materials
(like iron) to sink towards the centre of the earth and the lighter ones to move towards the
surface. With passage of time it cooled further and solidified and cpndensed into a
smaller size. This later led to the development of the outer surface in the form of a crust.
It is through the process of differentiation that the earth forming material got separated
into different layers. Starting from the surface to the central parts, we have layers like the
crust, mantle, outer core and inner core. From the crust to the core, the density of the
material increases.
The origin of life as a kind of chemical reaction, which first generated complex organic
molecules and assembled them, This assemblage was such that they could duplicate
themselves concerting inanimate matter into living substance. The record of life that
existed on this planet in different periods is found in rocks in the form of fossils. The
microscopic structures closely related to the present form of the blue algae have been
found in geological formations much older than some 3,000 million years. It can be
assumed that life began to evolve sometime 3,800 million years ago,
2. What are different stages of development of atmosphere?
In the early stage the atmosphere with hydrogen and helium is supposed to have been
stripped off as a result of intense solar winds. In the second stage during the cooling of
the earth, gases and water vapour were released from the interior solid earth. Continuous
volcanic eruptions contributed water vapour and gases to the atmosphere. As the earth
cooled, the water vapour released started getting condensed. Third stage was the stage of
photosynthesis.
3. Differentiate between inner planets and outer planets.
The difference between inner planets and outer planets inner planets outer planets
Outer Planets
Inner Planets

1. Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are 1. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are
called Inner Planets called Outer Planets
2. They are found between belt of asteroids
2. They are found after the belt of asteroids
and the sun
3. They are also called terrestrial planets 3. They are called Jovian planets
4. Smaller in size 4. Larger in size
5. High density 5. Low density
6. Solid rocky state 6. Gaseous state
7. They are warm 7. They are cold

4. Explain different phases of evolution of planets.

Evolution of planets can be understood in three stages:
 1. Formation of Disc; The stars are localised lumps of gas within a nebula. The
gravitational force within the lumps leads to the formation of a core to the gas cloud and
a huge rotating disc of gas and dust develops around the gas core.
2. Formation of Planetesimals: In the next stage, the gas cloud starts and getting
condensed and the matter around the core develops into small rounded objects. These
small rounded objects by the process of collision develop into what is called
planetesimals. Larger bodies start forming by collision and gravitational attraction causes
the materials to stick together. Planetesimals are a large number of smaller bodies.
3. Formation of Planets: In the final stage, these large number of small planetesimals
accrete to form fewer large bodies in the form of planets.
5. Explain the earliest theory associated with the origin of the earth.
A large number of hypotheses were put forth by different philosophers and scientists regarding
the origin of the earth. One of the earlier and popular arguments was by German philosopher
Immanuel Kant. Mathematician Laplace revised it in 1796. It is known as Nebular Hypothesis.
According to this theory there was a hot and rotating gas cloud called Nebula in the space. From
Nebula there was a gradual loss of heat due to its rotation which resulted in cooling of its outer
surface. This gradual cooling caused contraction in size of Nebula, but its speed increased due to
angular momentum. The outer layer was separated from the remaining part of Nebula.
The centre of Nebula became ‘Sun’ and the planets were formed of the smaller units. The lighter
material gases and the heavier dust particle gave the fact of inner and outer planets. In 1950, Otto
Schmidt in Russia and Carl Weizasear in Germany somewhat revised the ‘nebular hypothesis’,
though differing in details. They considered that the sun was surrounded by solar nebula
containing mostly the hydrogen and helium along with what may be termed as dust. The friction
and collision of particles led to formation of a disk-shaped cloud and the planets were formed
through the process of accretion.
5. Explain the modern theory associated with evolution of the earth.
In modern theory the evolution of the earth is associated with Big Bang Theory. It was
put forth by Edwin Hubble in 1920. In the beginning, all matter forming the universe
existed in one place in the form of a ‘tiny ball” \yith an unimaginably- small volume
infinite temperature and infinite density. At the Big Bang “tiny ball” exploded violently.
This led to a huge” expansion. it is now generally? accepted that the event of big. bang
took place 13.7 billion years before the present. The expansion continues even to the
present day. As it grew, some energy’ was converted into matter. There was particularly
rapid expansion within fractions of a second’ after the bang. Thereafter, the expansion
has slowed down. Within first Big Bang event, the first atom began to form.
Within 300,000 years from the Big Bang, temperature dropped to 4,500k and gave rise to
atomic matter. The universe became transparent. The expansion of universe means
increase in space between the galaxies. An alternative to this was Hoyle’s concept of
steady state. It considered the universe to be roughly the same at any point of time.
However, with greater evidence becoming available about the expanding universe,
scientific community at present favours argument of expanding universe.
6. Explain the collision and accretion I hypothesis associated with the evolution of the
earth.
1. Collision Hypothesis: It was given by Sir James and Harold Jeffrey.
 According to this theory, a large nebula ’wandering in the space came very close to
smaller nebula (Sun) and its huge upsurge of matter on the surface of smaller nebula. The
matter was detected from the smaller nebula and on cooling condensed into planets.
2. Accretion Hypothesis: It was given by? Schmidt and Carl Weizascar.

 According to them, solar system started out as a cloud of gas and dust drifting in a space
called nebula. This gaseous cloud
exploded violently to form supernova. The exploitation left the vast spinning cloud and
gases and thus to collapse under its own gravity and develop as denser core.
 The denser core became larger and hotter and began to burge. Later it developed into
protostar which finally evolved as ‘infant Sun.
 Away from its central surface, particles of dust began to clump together and converted
into first smaller fragments of rocks and then becoming larger bodies which were called
planetesimals which collided with one another to form rocky inner planets like Mercury,
Venus, Earth and Mars and the remaining were outer planets.
7. How’ was the layered structure of the earth developed?
The planet earth initially was a barren, rocky arid hot object with a thin atmosphere of
hydrogen and helium. This is far from the present day picture of the earth. It is said that
in initial stage the earth was in liquid form. Certainly, there must have been some events-
processes, which may? have caused this change from rocky, barren and hot earth to a
beautiful planet with ample amount of water and conducive atmosphere favouring the
existence of life.
The earth was mostly in a volatile state during its primordial stage. Due to gradual
increase in density the temperature inside has increased. As a result the material inside
started getting separated depending on their densities. This allowed heavier materials
(like iron) to sink towards the centre of the earth and the lighter ones to move towards the
surface. With passage of time it cooled further and solidified and condensed into a
smaller size. This later led to the development of the outer surface in the form of a crust.
It is through the process of differentiation that the earth forming material got separated
into different layers.
8. Why are the terrestrial planets rocky?
Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are known as terrestrial planets. They are earth like and
made up of rocks. Because of the very close Location of these planets the solar winds
were most intense; it blew off lots of gas and dust from these planets. As a result they
become rocky on their surface.
9. What are the types of plate boundaries?
Types of plate boundaries are:
 Transform boundaries
 Divergent boundaries
 Convergent boundaries
 Transform boundaries
 Plate boundary zones
10. What are the different types of plate boundaries?
Plate boundaries are classified into three categories
 Transform Boundaries: Transform Plate Boundaries are the points at which two plates
slide past one other during transformation. The fracture zone that creates the transform
 plate boundary is known as a transform fault. The majority of transform faults in the
ocean basin connect mid-ocean ridge offsets. Only a few of them connect mid-ocean
ridges and subduction zones.
 Divergent Boundaries: A tectonic boundary is produced by magma rising to the Earth's
surface between two plates as they separate, resulting in the formation of a new crust.
Divergent plate boundaries can be observed in the center of the Red Sea and along the
Atlantic Ocean's mid-ocean ridge.
 Convergent Boundaries: When two tectonic plates of similar density collide at a
convergent boundary, they push against each other, causing the Earth's crust to buckle
and rise, forming a mountain range. During this process, the edges of the plates may also
melt and form new igneous rock. The uplifted mountain range can erode over time, but it
will still remain a prominent feature of the landscape.
11. How do tectonic plates float on the mantle?
Because of the composition of the rocks within the plates, tectonic plates can float on the
mantle.
 As a result, they are less dense than the mantle.
 The continental crust is made up of granite rock, which is composed of quartz, feldspar,
and other relatively lightweight materials mostly composed of silicon and aluminum.
 The oceanic crust is made up of basaltic rock and other components mostly composed of
silicon and magnesium.
 The oceanic crust is substantially denser yet much thinner than the continental crust.
 The continental crust may be up to 100 km thick, whereas the oceanic crust is only
approximately 5 km thick.
12. What would happen if plate tectonics ceased?
Earth would undergo a drastic transformation if plate motion were to cease.
 Plate tectonics, the driving force behind mountain formation and volcanic activity,
would grind to a halt, silencing the Earth's fiery breath.
 The Pacific Ring of Fire, a chain of volcanoes encircling the Pacific Ocean, would
fall silent, its fiery sentinels extinguished.
 The volcanic procession along the Hawaiian Islands would cease, leaving no trace
of its fiery trail.
 Earthquakes, often triggered by plate motion, would become a rare occurrence,
their tremors fading into the silence.
 Mountains, sculpted by the relentless dance of tectonic plates, would gradually
succumb to erosion's relentless assault, their towering peaks reduced to gentle
slopes over millennia.
 A critical concern arises from the cessation of plate motion: the Earth's ability to
release its internal heat.
 Without the plates' continuous movement, our planet would need to devise a new
and efficient mechanism to shed its fiery core.
13. It is weathering that is responsible for bio-diversity on the earth. How?
Weathering processes lead to breaking down the rocks into smaller fragments and
preparing the way for formation of not only regolith and soils, but also erosion and mass
movements. Bio-diversity is basically a result of forests and vegetation. Forests and
vegetation depend upon the depth of weathering mantles. Erosion cannot be significant if
 the rocks are not weathered. It implies that weathering aids mass wasting, erosion and
reduction of relief and changes in landforms are a consequence of erosion.
14. Is weathering essential as a pre-requisite in the formation of soils? Why?
Yes, weathering is an essential pre-requisite in the formation of soils. Weathering is
action of elements of weather and climate over earth materials. There are a number of
processes within weathering which act either individually or together to affect the earth
materials in order to reduce them to fragmental state. Weathering is mechanical
disintegration and chemical decomposition of rocks through the actions of various
elements of weather and climate.
Weathering is an important process in the formation of soils. When rocks undergo
weathering, rocks start to break up and take form of soil gradually.
15. “Our earth is a playfield for two opposing groups of geomorphic processes.”
Discuss.
It is absolutely right to say that our earth is playfield for two opposing groups of forces.
These forces are exogenic and endogenic. The external forces are known as exogenic
forces and the internal forces are known as endogenic forces. The differences in the
internal forces operating from within the earth which built up the crust have been
responsible for the variations in the outer surface of the crust. The earth’s surface is being
continuously subjected to external forces induced basically by energy (sunlight). Of
course, the internal forces are still active though with different intensities. That means,
the earth’s surface is being continuously subjected to by external forces originating
within the earth’s atmosphere and by internal forces from within the earth.
The actions of exogenic forces result in wearing down (degradation) of relief/elevations
and filling up (aggradation) of basins/ depressions, on the earth’s surface. The endogenic
forces continuously elevate or build up parts of the earth’s surface and hence the
exogenic processes fail to even out the relief variations of the surface of the earth. So,
variations remain as long as the opposing actions of exogenic and endogenic forces
continue. In general terms, the endogenic forces are mainly land building forces and the
exogenic processes are mainly land wearing forces.
16. Are physical and chemical weathering processes independent of each other? If not,
why? Explain with examples.
No, physical and chemical weathering are not independent of each other. They are
different but still interdependent. Physical or mechanical weathering processes depend on
some applied forces. The applied forces could be: (a) gravitational forces such as
overburden pressure, load and shearing stress; (b) expansion forces due to temperature
changes, crystal growth or animal activity; (c) water pressures controlled by wetting and
drying cycles. Chemical weathering depends on a group of weathering processes viz;
solution, carbonation, hydration, oxidation and reduction act on the rocks to decompose,
dissolve or reduce them to a fine clastic state through chemical reactions by oxygen,
surface and/or soil water and other acids. Water and air (oxygen and carbon dioxide)
along with heat must be present to speed up all chemical reactions. Over and above the
carbon dioxide present in the air, decomposition of plants and animals increases the
quantity of carbon dioxide underground. These chemical reactions on various minerals
are very much similar to the chemical reactions in a laboratory.
These forces are interdependent. For example availability of water and heat depends on
physical factors while chemical reactions depend on availability of water and heat.
17. How do you distinguish between the process of soil formation and soil- forming
factors? What is the role of climate and biological activity as two important control
factors in the formation of soils?
Process refers to step by step procedure or methodical ways in which soil comes into
existence while factors causing this formation are called soil forming factors. Soil
formation process: Soil formation is called pedogenesis. It depends on weathering the
most. It is this weathering mantle which is the basic input for soil to form. The weathered
material or transported deposits are colonised by bacteria and other inferior plant bodies
like mosses and lichens. Several minor organisms may take shelter within the mantle and
deposits. The dead remains of organisms and plants help in humus accumulation. Minor
grasses and ferns may grow; later, bushes and trees will start growing through seeds
brought in by birds and wind. Plant roots penetrate down, burrowing animals bring up
particles, mass of material becomes porous and sponge- like with a capacity to retain
water and to permit the passage of air and finally a mature soil, a complex mixture of
mineral and organic products forms.
Soil-forming factors: Five basic factors control the formation of soils:

1. Parent material
2. Topography
3. Climate
4. Biological activity
5. Time.
In fact, soil forming factors act in union and affect the action of one another. Climate:
Climate is an important active factor in soil formation. The climatic elements involved in
soil development are :

1. moisture and
2. temperature.
Precipitation gives soil its moisture content which makes the chemical and biological
activities possible. Excess of water helps in the downward transportation of soil
components through the soil (eluviation) and deposits the same down below (illuviation).
Temperature acts in two ways — increasing or reducing chemical and biological activity.
Chemical activity is inci’eased in higher temperatures, reduced in cooler temperatures
(with an exception of carbonation) and stops in freezing conditions. That is why, tropical
soils with higher temperatures show deeper profiles and in the frozen tundra regions soils
contain largely mechanically broken materials.
Biological Activity: The vegetative cover and organisms that occupy the parent materials
from the beginning and also at later stages help in adding organic matter, moisture
retention, nitrogen, etc. Dead plants provide humus. Some organic acids which form
during humification aid in decomposing the minerals of the soil parent materials.
Intensity of bacterial activity shows up differences between soils of cold and warm
climates. Humus accumulates in cold climates as bacterial growth is slow.
With undecomposed organic matter because of low bacterial activity, layers of peat
develop in sub-arctic and tundra climates. Rhizobium, a type of bacteria, lives in the root
nodules of leguminous plants and fixes nitrogen beneficial to the host plant. The
influence of large animals like ants, termites, earthworms, rodents etc., is mechanical,
 but, it is nevertheless important in soil formation as they rework the soil up and down. In
case of earthworms, as they feed on soil, the texture and chemistry of the soil that comes
out of their body changes.
18. How does biological weathering take place?
Biological weathering takes place by:

 Animals: Animals like rabbits, rats, termides, etc. make burrows and holes in the rocks.
They consumes large quantity of soils and rocks for making their habitat and
destruction of food. This loosens the rock strata and disintegration occurs.
 Vegetation: Long and teanatious roots of plants work down into cracks of rocks. The
roots of shrubs and trees reach deep into them and this lodge large blocks.
 Human Activities: Mining, deforestation, indiscriminate cultivation of land and
construction activities contribute to weathering.
19. What is the importance of weathering?
Importance of weathering:

 Weathering processes are responsible for breaking down the rocks into smaller fragments
and preparing the way for formation of not only regolith and soils but also erosion and
mass movement. Biomes and bio-diversity is basically a result of forests depend upon
the depth of weathering mantles.
 Weathering aids mass and deposits helps in the enrichment and concentrations of certain
valuables ores of iron, manganese, aluminium, etc. which are of great importance for
the national economy.
 Weathering is an important process in the formation of soils.
20. Why are parent material and time considered as passive control factors in soil
formation?
1. Parent Material: It is a passive factor in soil formation. Parent materials can be any
insitu or on-site weathered rock debris or transported deposits. Soil formation depends
upon the texture, structure as well as mineral and chemical composition of the rock
debris/ deposits.
2. Time: It is the passive controlling factor in soil formation. The length of time the soil-
forming processes operate determine maturation of soils and profile development. A soil
becomes mature when all soil-forming processes act for a sufficiently long time
developing a profile.
21. What is rock? Name different types of rocks?
A rock is any natural substance composed of solid crystals of various minerals fused
together to form a solid lump.
We can differentiate rocks into three types, namely:
1. Igneous rock
2. Sedimentary rock
3. Metamorphic rock
22. What is a mineral? Name different kinds of minerals?
A mineral is any naturally occurring inorganic mass having a specific composition and
orderly arrangement of the atoms.
Based on the amount, we can classify minerals into two types.
1. Macrominerals
 2. Trace minerals
23. What is an igneous rock?
Rocks that are formed by the cooling and solidification of magma or the molten lava inside the
earth are known as igneous rocks.
Granite and basalt are examples of igneous rock.
24. What are the different types of igneous rocks?
Based on the chemical differentiation of magma, we can classify igneous rocks into two types.
1. Mafic rock
2. Felsic rock
Based on the size and nature of crystals of igneous rocks, we can classify them into five types.
1. Phaneritic textured igneous rock
2. Orphan textured igneous rock
3. Equigranular textured igneous rock
4. Porphyritic textured igneous rock
25. What is sedimentary rock? Explain different types of sedimentary rocks.
Rocks that are formed by the accumulation of fragments by any exogenous means like ice, wind
and sea are known as sedimentary rocks.
Sandstone, limestone and clay are examples of sedimentary rocks.
Based on the mode of formation of the sedimentary rock, we can classify it into three types.
1. Mechanically formed sedimentary rocks
2. Organically formed sedimentary rocks
3. Chemically formed sedimentary rocks
26. What is a metallic and non-metallic mineral? Give three examples of metallic and three
examples of non-metallic minerals.
The mineral containing one or more metal elements is known as a metallic mineral. In contrast,
the mineral that does not contain any metal element is known as a non-metallic mineral. No new
product is generated by melting a non-metallic mineral.
Examples of metallic minerals Iron, Copper, and Nickel.
Examples of non-metallic minerals Marble, Dolomite and Clay.
27. How can we conserve minerals?
A mineral is any naturally occurring inorganic mass having a specific composition and orderly
arrangement of the atoms.
We can preserve minerals by
1. Using minerals in a planned and sustainable manner.
2. Improving technology that may enable us to use low-grade ores at affordable prices.
3. By recycling metals.
28. What is an igneous rock? Describe the method of formation and characteristics of
igneous rock.
The igneous rocks are formed when magma cools and solidifies. Igneous rocks form out of
magma and lava from the interior of the earth, therefore, they are known as primary rocks.
Method of formation: When magma in its upward movement cools and turns into solid form it is
called igneous rock. The process of cooling and solidification can happen in the earth’s crust or
on the surface of the earth. Igneous rocks are classified based on texture. The texture depends
upon the size and arrangement of grains or other physical conditions of the materials. If molten
material is cooled slowly at great depths, mineral grains may be very large. Sudden cooling (at
the surface) results in small and smooth grains. Intermediate conditions of cooling would result
in intermediate sizes of grains making up igneous rocks. Granite, gabbro, pegmatite, basalt,
volcanic breccia and tuff are some of the examples of igneous rocks.
Features:
They are made up of solidified lava.
Liquid lava gets solidified by gradual cooling
They are compact
They do not have fossils.
29. What is meant by sedimentary rock? Describe the mode of formation of sedimentary
rock.
The word ‘sedimentary’ is derived from the Latin word sedimentum, which means settling. All
types of rocks of the earth’s surface are exposed to denudational agents, and are broken up into
various sizes of fragments. Such fragments are transported by different exogenous agencies and
deposited.
These deposits through compaction turn into rocks. This process is called lithification. In many
sedimentary rocks, the layers of deposits retain their characteristics even after lithification.
Hence, we see a number of layers of varying thickness in sedimentary rocks like sandstone, shale
etc.
30. What relationship explained by rock cycle between the major type of rocks?
Rocks do not remain in their original form for long but may undergo transformation. Rock cycle
is a continuous process through which old rocks are transformed into new ones. Igneous rocks
are primary rocks and other rocks (sedimentary and metamorphic) form from these primary
rocks. Igneous rocks can be changed into metamorphic rocks. The fragments derived out of
igneous and metamorphic rocks form into sedimentary rocks.
Sedimentary rocks themselves can turn into fragments and the fragments can be a source for
formation of sedimentary rocks. The crustal rocks (igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary) once
formed may be carried down into the mantle (interior of the earth) through subduction process
(parts or whole of crustal plates going down under another plate in zones of plate convergence)
and the same melt down due to increase in temperature in the interior and turn into molten
magma, the original source for igneous rocks.
31. Define the term ‘mineral’ and name the major classes of minerals with their physical
characteristics.
A mineral is a naturally occurring organic and inorganic substance, having an orderly atomic
structure and a definite chemical composition and physical properties. A mineral is composed of
two or more elements. But, sometimes single element minerals like sulphur, copper, silver, gold,
graphite etc. are found. There are at least 2,000 minerals that have been named and identified in
the earth crust; but almost all the commonly occurring ones are related to six major mineral
groups that are known as major rock forming minerals.
Some major minerals and their characteristics:
Feldspar: Silicon and oxygen are common elements in all types of feldspar and sodium,
potassium, calcium, aluminium etc. are found in specific feldspar variety.
Quartz: It is one of the most important components of sand and granite. It consists of silica. It is
a hard mineral virtually insoluble in water.
Pyroxene: Pyroxene consists of calcium, aluminum, magnesium, iron and silica. Pyroxene forms
10 per cent of the earth’s crust.
Amphibole: Aluminium, calcium, silica, iron, magnesium are the major elements of amphiboles.
They form 7 percent of the earth’s crust.
Mica: It comprises of potassium, aluminium, magnesium, iron, silica, etc. It forms 4 per cent of
the earth’s crust.
Olivine: Magnesium, iron and silica are major elements of olivine. It is used in jewellery. It is
usually a greenish crystal, often found in basaltic rocks.
Metallic Minerals: These minerals contain metal content and can be sub-divided into three types:
Precious metals,
Ferrous metals
Non- ferrous metals.
32. What are metamorphic rocks? Describe the types of metamorphic rock and how are
they formed?
The word metamorphic means ‘change of form’. These rocks form under the action of pressure,
volume and temperature (PVT) changes. Metamorphism takes place when rocks are forced down
to lower levels by tectonic processes or when molten magma rising through the crust comes in
contact with the crustal rocks or the underlying rocks are subjected to great amounts of pressure
by overlying rocks. Metamorphism is a process by which already consolidated rocks undergo
recrystallisation and reorganisation of materials within original rocks.
Mechanical disruption and reorganisation of the original minerals within rocks because of
breaking and crushing without any appreciable chemical changes is called dynamic
metamorphism. The materials of rocks chemically alter and recrystallise due to thermal
metamorphism.
There are two types of thermal metamorphism:
1. Contact metamorphism: In contact metamorphism the rocks come in contact with hot
intruding magma and lava and the rock materials recrystallise under high temperatures. Quite
often new materials form out of magma or lava are added to the rocks.
2. Regional metamorphism: In regional metamorphism, rocks undergo recrystallisation due to
deformation caused by tectonic shearing together with high temperature or pressure or both.
During metamorphism in some rocks grains or minerals get arranged in layers or lines. Such an
arrangement of minerals or grains in metamorphic rocks is called foliation or lineation.
Sometimes minerals or materials of different groups are arranged into alternating thin to thick
layers appearing in light and dark shades. Such a structure in metamorphic rocks is called
banding and rocks displaying banding are called banded rocks. Types of metamorphic rocks
depend upon original rocks that were subjected to metamorphism. Metamorphic rocks are
classified into two major groups foliated rocks and non-foliated rocks. Gneissoid, granite,
syenite, slate, schist, marble, quartzite etc. are some examples of metamorphic rocks.

33. Explain rock cycle.

There are basically three types of rocks:-

1. Igneous rocks
2. Sedimentary rocks
3. Metamorphic rocks
Rock cycle steps :-
1. When magma cools down to a temperature where it can no longer remain in a liquid
state it turns into igneous rocks.
2. When igneous rocks are subjected to the extreme natural conditions where the process
of weathering and erosion takes place, these rocks change to form sediments.
3. These sediments remain compact and cementfies to form sedimentary rocks.
4. When sedimentary rocks come in contact with heat and pressure for a longer period, it
changes its state to metamorphic rock.
5. When metamorphic rock is subjected under high temperature for a longer period,
it melts to form magma.
6. Igneous rock will form metamorphic rocks when it comes under heat and pressure to
alter and recrystallize in a continuous cycle.
7. When metamorphic rock will face weathering and erosion it will change its state to
sediments.
8. Further, when igneous rocks will stay under high temperature where it no longer can
continue its solid state it Melts to form Magma.
34. Difference between weather and climate.

Weather Climate
It is the atmospheric condition of a It is the average atmospheric condition of a
particular place or small area. large area.
It is considered for a small period
It is considered for a long period of time.
of time.
It changes drastically in short It remains almost constant and takes long
duration of time. time to change substantially.
Example: cloudy and humid Example: monsoon

35. What are the important elements of climate?

There are mainly seven important elements of a climate which should be taken into
consideration, they are:
> Temperature: It is defined as the amount of heat or coolness present in the air which is
measured in degree Celsius or Fahrenheit depending on different countries. It is one of the
prominent factors in determining the climate which varies during the day due to the Earth’s
rotation and annually due to the motion of the earth around the sun.

> Precipitation: It is defined as the moisture which falls in the form of water or solid form on the
surface of the Earth such as snow, hail, fog, drizzle etc.

> Humidity: Another important component is humidity which is the water vapor present in the
air. The amount of it varies according to the solar radiation and the rainfall and so it is always
present whether a hot season or cold season.

> Atmospheric Pressure: Air always has some weight and this weight exerted by the air is
defined as the atmospheric pressure. They directly affect the precipitation and changes vertically,
i.e. the value decreases in altitudes.

> Cloudiness: The clouds also act as a significant element of climate which provide a clue about
the atmosphere and how it can affect the weather in a few hours.

> Wind: It is defined as the horizontal movement of the air in the atmosphere or the moving air.
T affects the climate by soaking humidity, leading to storms and water evaporation.

> Solar Radiation: It is the heat received by the earth from the sun which is also known as short-
wave radiation. It cannot be seen but can be felt and a very healthy component as it contains
Vitamin D which is good for bones and skin.

Thus each and every element of climate influences the weather conditions of the environment in
which we live.
36. What do you mean by climate and weather? What are their elements?
The term 'climate' refers to the sum total of weather conditions and variations over a large area for
a long period of time, i.e., more than thirty years. The term weather refers to the atmospheric
conditions over an area at any point of time. The elements of weather and climate are:

 Temperature
  Atmospheric pressure
 Wind
 Humidity
 Precipitation

37.