Download Rock Cycle Study Guide Key

Study Guide Key: Cycling the Earth’s Materials.
1. Label all parts of the Rock Cycle.
2. 2. What flow of energy drives processes such as melting, crystallization, and deformation? Internal
heat energy.
3. What flow of energy drives processes such as weathering and erosion? Energy from the sun.
4. What is the rock cycle? Any rock on Earth can be changed into a new type of rock by processes
driven by Earth’s internal heat energy or by energy from the sun.
5. Give an example of an igneous rock Granite. How does it form? Cooling of magma/lava.
6. Given an example of sedimentary rock Sandstone. How does it form? Compaction and cementation
of sediments.
7. Give an example of metamorphic rock marble. How does it form? Heat and pressure causing change
in composition and appearance.
Learning Target MS- ESS1-4 I can construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata
for how the geologic time scale is used to organized Earth’s 4.6 billion year old history.
Use the diagram below to answer #8-11:
8. What is the Law of Superposition? The lower layers are older.
9. What is the Law of Horizontality? All rock layers are originally horizontal.
10. Put the layers in order of oldest to youngest: C, B,D, A
11. How does the Law of Discontinuity help you determine the relative age of D?
The law says that the discontinuity is younger than the surrounding older rock.
D
Use the fossil diagram to answer #11-13
11. What kind of rock are these fossils in? Sedimentary
12. Which layer contains the oldest fossils? Layer 1
13. Use the order of rocks and the fossil record to give relative order of events. Include
appearance/disappearance of trilobites, ammonites, shells and fish. Trilobites are the oldest fossil
appearing and going extinct in layer 1. The shells appear in layer 2-5. The ammonites appear at the
same time as the shells but don’t appear in layer 5. The fish appear in layers 3-5 and are the most
recent fossils of the three to appear
Learning Target: I can construct a model of the layers of the Earth. I can explain that internal heat
energy drives processes in the rock cycle.
Crust
Mantle (upper and lower)
Outer Core
Inner Core
Temperature
Crust
State of
Matter
Solid
Composition
Notes
Oceanic crust made up of
iron, oxygen, silicon,
magnesium and
aluminium.
Continental
crust made up of granite,
sedimentary rocks and
metamorphic rocks.
The Earth's surface is covered by its thinnest layer,
the crust. Land is made of continental crust, which
is 8km to 70km thick and made mostly from a rock
called granite. The layer beneath the ocean bed is
made of oceanic crust, which is about 8km thick and
made mainly from a rock called basalt.
liquid /
solid
iron, oxygen, silicon,
magnesium and
aluminium
This layer is up to 670km below the Earth’s surface.
The lower part of the upper mantle is made from both
solid and melted rock (liquid), while the rock in the
upper region is stiffer, because it’s cooler.
solid
iron, oxygen, silicon,
magnesium and
aluminium
Liquid
iron, nickel, sulphur and
oxygen
Solid
iron and nickel
The lower mantle is found
between 670km and 2,890km below the surface, and
is made from solid rock. The rock is hot enough to
melt, but is solid because of the pressure pushing
down on it.
This liquid layer of iron and nickel is 5,150km deep.
The outer core flows around the centre of the Earth,
and the movement of the metals creates our planet’s
magnetic field.
The Earth’s inner core is a huge metal
ball, 2,500km wide. Made mainly of iron, the
temperature of the ball is 5,000°C to 6,000°C – that’s
up to 6,000 times hotter than our atmosphere and
scorching enough to make metal melt! The metal at
the inner core stays solid because of the incredible
pressure surrounding it.
Around 22°C
Upper
Mantle
Lower
Mantle
Outer
Core
Inner
Core
1,400°C –
3,000°C
3,000°C
4,000°C –
6,000°C
5,000°C - 6,000°C
Why is the Earth’s core so hot? There are three main sources of heat in the deep earth: (1)
heat from when the planet formed and accreted, which has not yet been lost; (2) frictional
heating, caused by denser core material sinking to the center of the planet; and (3) heat
from the decay of radioactive elements.
1. The lithosphere is:
The lithosphere is the solid and rigid outer layer of our planet. It includes the crust
and part of the upper mantle that contains rigid rocks. Beneath this layer is the
asthenosphere where the rocks in this part of the upper mantle are not rigid. The
rocks can flow like a liquid or break apart similar to silly putty.
2. The asthenosphere is:
The asthenosphere is the layer of the Earth that lies below the lithosphere. It is a
layer of solid rock that has so much pressure and heat the rocks can flow like a
liquid. The rocks are less dense than the rocks in the lithosphere. This allows the
tectonic plates in the lithosphere to move around on the Earth's surface by
"floating" on the rocks that are slowly flowing like a liquid.