Rock Cycle
What process turns sediment into sedimentary rock?
What is compaction and cementation?
Rationale: Sediments are compacted and cemented together over time to form sedimentary rock.
What is the outermost layer of the Earth?
Answer: What is the crust?
Rationale: The crust is the Earth's outermost solid layer.
What is the theory that describes the movement of Earth's plates?
Answer: What is plate tectonics?
Rationale: Plate tectonics is the scientific theory that explains the movement of Earth's plates.
What type of rock forms from cooled lava?
What is igneous rock?
Rationale: Igneous rock forms when lava cools and solidifies.
Which type of plate boundary can create earthquakes?
Answer: What are transform boundaries?
Rationale: Transform boundaries, where plates slide past each other, often lead to earthquakes.
How does igneous rock form?
What is cooling and solidification of magma or lava?
Rationale: Igneous rocks form when molten rock (magma or lava) cools and solidifies.
Which layer of the Earth is made of molten rock?
What is the mantle?
Rationale: The mantle is semi-solid and contains molten rock called magma.
What type of boundary occurs when two tectonic plates move apart?
Answer: What is a divergent boundary?
Rationale: Divergent boundaries are where tectonic plates move away from each other, often creating new crust.
What is the main difference between intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks?
What is that intrusive rocks form inside the Earth and have larger crystals, while extrusive rocks form on the surface and have smaller crystals?
Rationale: The rate of cooling determines the crystal size, with slower cooling inside the Earth leading to larger crystals.
What is the name of the supercontinent that existed about 300 million years ago?
Answer: What is Pangaea?
Rationale: Pangaea was a supercontinent that eventually broke apart to form the continents we know today.
Which type of rock can be transformed into metamorphic rock?
What is any type of rock (igneous, sedimentary, or even other metamorphic rocks)?
Rationale: All rock types can undergo heat and pressure to become metamorphic rocks.
What layer of the Earth is made mostly of iron and nickel?
What is the core (specifically the inner and outer core)?
Rationale: The Earth's core is composed mainly of iron and nickel, with a solid inner core and a liquid outer core.
What forms at a convergent boundary where an oceanic plate collides with a continental plate?
What is a subduction zone, often creating volcanic mountains?
Rationale: In subduction zones, the denser oceanic plate sinks beneath the lighter continental plate, leading to volcanic activity.
Which type of rock is likely to contain fossils?
What is sedimentary rock?
Rationale: Sedimentary rocks are formed from the accumulation of sediments, which can include organic material and fossils.
What is the process called when rocks are broken down and carried away?
What is erosion?
Rationale: Erosion involves the movement of weathered rock material by wind, water, or ice.
What drives the rock cycle? (Aka what makes it happen?)
What are Earth's internal heat and surface processes like weathering, erosion, and plate tectonics?
Rationale: The energy from Earth's interior and external processes contribute to the transformation of rocks in the rock cycle.
What is the thickest layer of the Earth?
What is the mantle?
Rationale: The mantle is the thickest layer, making up about 84% of Earth's volume.
What causes tectonic plates to move?
What are convection currents in the mantle?
Rationale: Convection currents in the semi-fluid part of the mantle cause the plates to move.
What type of rock is marble, and how does it form?
What is a metamorphic rock that forms from limestone under heat and pressure?
Rationale: Marble is a metamorphosed form of limestone, which changes structure due to intense heat and pressure.
Which mineral is the hardest on the Mohs scale?
What is diamond?
Rationale: Diamond is the hardest known natural material, ranking highest on the Mohs hardness scale.
Name the process where rocks are broken down into smaller pieces by wind, water, or ice.
Answer: What is weathering?
Rationale: Weathering is the breakdown of rocks by physical, chemical, or biological means.
Which layer of the Earth is responsible for generating Earth's magnetic field?
What is the outer core?
Rationale: The movement of molten iron and nickel in the outer core generates Earth's magnetic field.
Which tectonic plates are responsible for the creation of the Himalayas?
What are the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate?
Rationale: The collision of these two continental plates has uplifted the Himalayas.
What rock type is formed from pre-existing rocks undergoing heat and pressure without melting?
What is metamorphic rock?
Rationale: Metamorphic rocks form from other rocks that are changed by heat and pressure without reaching a liquid state.
What is the Earth's lithosphere made of?
What is the crust and the uppermost part of the mantle?
Rationale: The lithosphere includes the Earth's crust and the rigid upper portion of the mantle, forming the tectonic plates.