Term | Definition |
Weathering | The chemical and physical processes that break down rock at Earth's surface. |
Mechanical Weathering | The type of weathering in which rock is physically broken into smaller pieces. |
Chemical Weathering | The process that breaks down rock through chemical changes. |
Abrasion | The grinding away of rock by other rock particles carried in water, ice, or wind. |
Ice Wedging | Process that splits rock when water seeps into cracks, then freezes and expands. |
Erosion | The process by which water, ice, wind, or gravity moves weathered rock and soil. |
Deposition | Process in which sediment is laid down in new locations. |
Sediment | Earth materials deposited by erosion. |
Sedimentary Rock | The type of rock that is made of hardened sediment. |
Igneous Rock | One of the three main rock types formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. |
Metamorphic Rock | Rock that was once one form of rock but has changed to another under the influence of heat, pressure, or some other agent without passing through a liquid phase. |
Rock Cycle | The rock cycle is a model that describes the formation, breakdown, and reformation of a rock as a result of sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic processes. |
Strata | Layers of rock. |
Stratification | The process in which sedimentary rocks are arranged in layers. |
Foliated | Aligned grains of flat minerals. |
Non-Foliated | Mineral grains not arranged in plains or bands. |
Mafic | Rocks that are dark in color. |
Felsic | Rocks that are light in color. |
Course Grained | Describes the long amount of time it takes for rocks to cool down allowing crystals to grow. |
Fine Grained | Describes the short amount of time it takes for rocks to cool down allowing little to no crystals to grow. |
Intrusive | Magma pushes into surrounding rock below the Earth's surface. |
Extrusive | Forms when magma erupts onto the Earth's surface and cools quickly. |