The Rock Cycle
The process that breaks rock into smaller pieces without moving it.
What is weathering?
Large pieces of Earth’s lithosphere that move slowly over the mantle.
What are tectonic plates?
The type of boundary where plates collide.
What is a convergent boundary?
A naturally occurring inorganic solid with a definite structure.
What is a mineral?
A natural hazard where rock and soil move quickly downhill.
What is a landslide?
A circular process showing how igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks change over time.
What is the rock cycle?
The supercontinent that existed long ago when all land was connected.
What is Pangaea?
The process where one plate sinks beneath another.
What is subduction?
A solid made of one or more minerals.
What is a rock?
A branch of science focused on the value and use of minerals as resources.
What is economic mineralogy?
The type of rock most likely formed from compacted and cemented sediments.
What is sedimentary rock?
The general term for where tectonic plates meet.
What are plate boundaries?
A natural hazard caused by sudden movement along faults near plate boundaries.
What is an earthquake?
A shiny material often extracted from ore and used in technology and construction.
What is a metal?
Why mining can increase flooding or landslide risk (hint: vegetation removal and soil disruption).
What is increased erosion and unstable land?
The term for sediments being squeezed together under pressure to form sedimentary rock.
What is compaction?
The type of boundary where plates move away from each other.
What is a divergent boundary?
A landform/event that occurs when magma reaches the surface, often at convergent or divergent boundaries.
What is a volcano?
A type of mining that removes layers of soil and rock to reach resources.
What is strip mining?
The big environmental problem when humans use resources faster than Earth can replace them through geologic time.
What is depletion of nonrenewable resources?
The type of rock likely formed at a non volcanic convergent plate boundary.
What is a medamorphic rock?
The type of boundary where plates slide past one another, often causing earthquakes.
What is a transform boundary?
The reason scientists use geologic time instead of human years to study Earth’s changes.
What is geologic time?
A controversial method that injects fluid into rock to release oil or natural gas.
What is hydraulic fracturing?
The process of restoring mined lands as close to its original state.