15

Name:

Rocks

TUTORIAL A
Rocks are naturally occurring solid lumps containing minerals.

Minerals

are

naturally

occurring

Uluru, Northern Territory , Australia Made of arkose, a very hard form of sandstone, this inselberg, formerly known as Ayers Rock, is 10 km around the base.

elements or compounds, usually found in . Geologists are scientists

who study rocks, minerals and natural processes in landscapes and the

layers of the Earth.

4
( )

So plutonic rock formed when molten and rock (

ground, ) Volcanic there rock

Rock

scientists

cooled

hardened.

classify rocks to make their study easier and communication simpler. Rocks are sorted into three main groups (igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic) according to how they formed.

formed when molten of a

erupted out and then cooled and

solidified on the Earths surface.

5
and are the three

Plutonic rocks formed slowly, resulting in large crystals. Volcanic rocks, by

contrast, cooled quickly, resulting in small crystals. Both plutonic and volcanic rocks are put into the (once

main rock groups. Rocks are classified to make geology study communication between and geologists

molten) main group of rocks.

. Rocks in these three groups were originally in different

ways. Igneous rocks started out as molten material that cooled, solidified and

hardened. If that happened underground, the molten rock was magma and the rocks formed are called plutonic. If the molten rock erupted out of a volcano, it was lava and the resulting rock is called volcanic.
Obsidana natural, shiny , volcanic glass

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57

Rocks

So igneous rocks with large crystals are most likely to be of the type

layers

of

sediment

(particles

such

as

clay, sand, and gravel) settled to the bottom underwater. Then this was

and those with small crystals are most likely of the type. Common

compacted (squeezed), cemented (stuck) together and hardened over thousands of years.

plutonic rocks are granite, gabbro and diorite. Volcanic rocks include basalt,

pumice and obsidian.

12 7
Three igneous rocks that formed , gabbro and three that formed , underground are and

So

sediments and

in

water, such

as

clay,

, settled to the

bottom and formed layers (strata). After many years, when the layers had been (squeezed), (stuck) together and formed rock. , they

on the Earths surface are pumice and .

Granite, a typical

igneous

rock, is used for buildings, monuments and three kitchen types benchtops. of large It contains These

Tutorial B
Examples of sedimentary rock include conglomerate, sandstone, shale, limestone and coal.

crystals.

are quartz (glassy), feldspar (white or pinkish black). and opaque) and mica (shiny

Pumice is a

igneous rock.

13

Conglomerate,

rock,

It is grey, full of holes and so light that it floats on water. It is used in personal grooming for smoothing rough skin and it is ground up for use in polishing.

is typically made of pebbles of various sizes cemented together with smaller

grains. It looks lumpy. Sandstone has coarse sand grains stuck together in layers ( ) and is variously coloured.

10

Obsidian, another rock, is dark a natural but glass. the It is

igneous mostly forms,

Shale formed from mud and is generally greyish or brownish, smooth and much finer-grained. It can be flaky, and it splits easily along layers.

brown,

rarer

including pale green, are semi-precious gemstones. traditionally In jewellery to they are their

believed

cleanse

14

So,

if

sedimentary sized pebbles

rock and .

contains grains, If it is it is

owners heart and free her from unhealthy relationships.

variously it is

probably with coarse

sand-coloured

grains, , and if

11

The groups

second of

of rocks

the is

main

three

is

probably

finer grained and flaky, it is probably .

(formed from sediments). It formed when

58

Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.

Rocks

may even contain of prehistoric life). rocks

(evidence Igneous never and contain

metamorphic

fossils. The heat and/or the pressure that formed them would destroy any remains of life.

18

There

may

be

fossils

in

rock, but they are never found in rock,

because any creature trapped in lava would be burned up. Neither are they found in rock,

because the heat and/or that transformed them from other

rocks would destroy that evidence of prehistoric .

19 15
Limestone is a pale sedimentary rock often formed from the remains of

Metamorphic

rocks

include

marble

(metamorphosed by from its parent rock

or pressure limestone), slate

(metamorphosed from its parent shale) and quartzite (m

seashells

(mostly

calcium

carbonate).

Polished limestone can be used for floors and furniture. Coal is a black combustible rock formed from fossilised swamp plants. Beds of these rocks form (strata).

from its parent sandstone).

20

So marble was once slate was once once .

, and quartzite was

16

So,

if

sedimentary carbonate smooth, . If is it it is

rock and is black

is

mostly be

21

Marble is a beautiful, smooth, expensive rock used for statues and ornaments. Slate is a dark-grey rock used for roof tiles. Quartzite is a hard rock that is difficult to shape but can be used

calcium polished

can

probably and can . patterns)

be

burned, ripple

it

probably (wave

Strata,

marks

for building. Although they each have a distinctive some rock appearance, similarities they they with still the

and fossils are identifying features of sedimentary rocks.

show p

metamorphosed

17

Sedimentary

rocks

may

show

from.

marks (wave patterns) and

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59

Rocks

22

So, if a metamorphic rock is carved into a beautiful, smooth statue, it is probably . If it is made into dark grey roof tiles, it is probably , and if it

Water erodes fragments of rock, which become sediments and then, sometimes, rock.

is used, roughly shaped, in buildings, it is probably .

24

If

sedimentary

rock

becomes

buried, rock. If

then melted, it becomes

heat and/or pressure changes it again, it

23

Over millions of years, nature recycles rocks. All rocks come from pre-existing rocks that nature has buried, melted, ground up and put together again.

becomes

rock.

25

There are no new rocks in the crust of planet Earth. All rocks come from prerocks.

That process is called the rock cycle.

TEST YOURSELF

Match up the term to the closest description and write it in. Uluru conglomerate obsidian marble shale lava magma plutonic volcanic sedimentary metamorphic igneous

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

rock formed when molten magma or lava solidified rock changed by high heat and/or pressure rock formed from compressed sediments molten rock material ejected from a volcano underground molten rock material igneous rock that formed underground igneous rock that formed above ground a natural volcanic glass a metamorphic rock formed from limestone

10. a lumpy sedimentary rock 11. a flaky sedimentary rock formed from mud 12. a huge rock in Australia made of arkose

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