The Rock Cycle

Rocks are the most common material on Earth. They are naturally occurring
aggregates of one or more minerals.
Rock divisions occur in three major families based on how they formed: igneous,
sedimentary, and metamorphic. Each group contains a collection of rock types that
differ from each other on the basis of the size, shape, and arrangement of mineral
grains.
The rock cycle is an illustration that is used to explain how the three rock types
are related to each other and how Earth processes change a rock from one type to
another through geologic time. Plate tectonic movement is responsible for the recycling
of rock materials and is the driving force of the rock cycle.

Igneous Rocks
There are places on Earth that are so hot that rocks melt to form magma.
Because magma is liquid and usually less dense than surrounding solid rock, it moves
upward to cooler regions of the Earth. As the magma loses heat, it cools and
crystallizes into an igneous rock. Magma can cool on the Earth's surface, where it has
erupted from a volcano (extrusive rock) or under the Earth's surface, where it has
intruded older rocks (intrusive rock).
The composition of magma is limited to the eight common elements of the
earth's crust. These elements combine within a melt to form silicate minerals, the most

common minerals of igneous rocks. These silicate minerals include feldspars

(plagioclase feldspar, potassium feldspar), quartz, micas (muscovite, biotite),
pyroxenes (augite), amphiboles (hornblende), and olivine. These minerals make up over
95% of the volume of the common igneous rocks, making igneous rocks easy to
identify.
Sedimentary Rocks
Any rock (igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic) exposed at the Earth's surface
can become a sedimentary rock. The forces of wind, rain, snow, and ice combine to
break down or dissolve (weather), and carry away (transport) rocks exposed at the
surface. These particles eventually come to rest (deposited) and become hard rock
(lithified).
Sedimentary rocks tell us what the Earth's surface was like in the geologic past.
They can contain fossils that tell us about the animals and plants or show the climate in
an area. Sedimentary rocks are also important because they may contain water for
drinking or oil and gas to run our cars and heat our homes.
Metamorphic Rocks
Any rock (igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic) can become a metamorphic
rock. If rocks are buried deep in the Earth at high temperatures and pressures, they
form new minerals and textures all without melting. If melting occurs, magma is
formed, starting the rock cycle all over again.
Geologists can learn the following about the Earth from the study of metamorphic
rocks:

the temperature and pressure conditions (metamorphic environment) in which

the rock was formed

the composition of the parent, or original unmetamorphosed, rock

aids in the interpretation of the platetectonic setting in which the metamorphism

took place

aids in the reconstruction of the geological history of an area.

The term "metamorphic" means "to change form." Changes in the temperature and
pressure conditions cause the minerals in the rock to become unstable so they either
reorient themselves into layers (foliation) or recrystallize into larger crystals, all without
undergoing melting.