Rocks and the Rock Cycle Flashcards
Grade 5 · Science · Flashcards
Key vocabulary for rock types, formation processes, and the rock cycle.
Flashcards
- Igneous rock
- Rock formed when magma or lava cools and hardens; examples: granite, basalt, obsidian.
- Sedimentary rock
- Rock formed from compacted, cemented layers of sediment; examples: sandstone, limestone, shale.
- Metamorphic rock
- Rock transformed by heat and pressure without melting; examples: marble, slate, quartzite.
- Magma
- Molten rock beneath Earth's surface.
- Lava
- Magma that has erupted onto Earth's surface through a volcano.
- Rock cycle
- The continuous process by which rocks transform between igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic types over millions of years.
- Sediment
- Tiny particles of weathered rock, sand, and organic material deposited by water, wind, or ice.
- Strata
- Layers of sedimentary rock; deeper strata are generally older.
- Weathering
- The breakdown of rocks into smaller pieces by water, wind, ice, or chemical reactions.
- Erosion
- The movement of weathered rock particles from one place to another by water, wind, or ice.
- Compaction
- Pressure from overlying sediment squeezes lower sediment layers together.
- Cementation
- Minerals dissolved in water deposit between sediment grains, gluing them into rock.
- Granite
- A coarse-grained igneous rock formed from slow-cooling magma underground; very common in Earth's crust.
- Basalt
- A fine-grained igneous rock formed from fast-cooling lava on Earth's surface.
- Marble
- Metamorphic rock formed from limestone; used in sculpture and building.
- Fossil
- The preserved remains or trace of an ancient organism, found almost exclusively in sedimentary rock.
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