Classifying Rocks
A natural, solid mixture of minerals or particles is called this.
What is a rock?
Igneous rock that formed from magma and cooled very slowly UNDERNEATH the earth's surface is called this.
What is intrusive igneous rock?
These small pieces or particles make up sedimentary rock. They can be other rocks or plant and animal organisms.
What are sediments?
Metamorphic rocks are created by these two primary forces.
What is extreme heat and pressure?
Geologists classify rocks into these 3 major groups.
What are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks?
The type of rock that forms from magma or lava cooling is termed this.
What is igneous rock?
This type of rock is formed from lava ON the earth's surface.
What is extrusive igneous rock?
The process that squeezes out fluids and decreases the space between the grains in a sediment deposit is called this.
What is compaction?
These types of rocks can become metamorphic rocks.
What are igneous, sedimentary, and other metamorphic rocks?
A rock transforms to sediment by these two processes.
What are weathering and erosion?
The fragments that make up a rock and its texture are called this.
What are grains?
This intrusive igneous rock has larger crystals and is what Stone Mountain is primarily composed of.
What is granite?
The crystallization of minerals from water into the spaces between sediment grains that makes sedimentary rocks stick together is called this.
This occurs when magma comes in contact with existing rock and its thermal energy and gases interact with the surrounding rock to make new metamorphic rock.
What is contact metamorphism?
Prior to becoming igneous rock, this process must occur to any rock.
What is melting?
The grain size and the way grains fit together in a rock are called this.
What is texture?
This type of extrusive igneous rock is black with a glassy texture.
What is obsidian?
A broken piece or fragment of rock that comprises a sedimentary rock is called this.
What is a clast?
A rock that contains parallel layers of flat and elongated minerals is termed this.
What is foliated metamorphic rock?
The tectonic process that forces rocks onto the earth's surface is called this.
What is uplift?
The series of processes that change one type of rock into another type of rock is called this.
What is the rock cycle?
This igneous rock is very light and can float in water. It also has holes due to the release of gases and is used as an abrasive.
What is pumice?
This type of sedimentary rock is made up of broken pieces of rock and minerals.
What is a clastic sedimentary rock?
The formation of metamorphic rock bodies that are hundreds of square kilometers in size are often occur when rocks undergo pressure at fault lines is called this.
What is regional metamorphism?
The cause of chemical weathering which combines the element oxygen with other elements or molecules is called this.
What is oxidation?