THE ROCK CYCLE

Rocks are constantly being formed, worn down and then formed again. This is known as the
Rock Cycle. It is like the water cycle but it takes a lot longer. It takes thousands and millions
of years for rocks to change.
Rocks are divided into 3 Types. They are classified by how they were formed: IGNEOUS,
SEDIMENTARY and METAMORPHIC

IGNEOUS ROCKS
Igneous means made from fire or heat. When volcanoes erupt and the liquid rock comes up to
the earth's surface, then new igneous rock is made. Igneous rocks form when molten lava
(magma) cools and turn to solid rock.
When the rock is liquid & inside the earth, it is called magma. The magma comes from the
Earths core which is molten rock . The core makes up about 30% of the Total Earth Mass
(31.5%)
When the magma gets hard inside the crust, it turns into granite. Most mountains are made of
granite. It cools very slowly and is very hard.
When the magma gets up to the surface and flows out, like what happens when a volcano
erupts, then the liquid is called lava.
Lava flows down the sides of the volcano. When it cools & turns hard it is called obsidian,
lava rock or pumice - depending on what it looks like.
Obsidian is natures glass. It forms when lava cools quickly on the surface. It is glassy and
smooth.
Pumice is full of air pockets that were trapped when the lava cooled when it frothed out onto
the surface. It is the only rock that floats.
There are 5 kinds of igneous rocks, depending on the mix of minerals in the rocks.

GRANITE contains quartz, feldspar & mica

DIORITE contains feldspar & one or more dark mineral. Feldspar is dominant.

GABBRO contains feldspar & one or more dark mineral. The dark minerals are
dominant.

PERIODOTITE contains iron and is black or dark.

PEGMATITE is a coarse-grained granite with large crystals of quartz, feldspar and

mica.

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
When mountains are first formed, they are tall and jagged like the Rocky Mountains on the
west coast of North America. Over time (millions of years) mountains become old mountains
like the Appalachian Mountains on the east coast of Canada and the United States. When
mountains are old, they are rounded and much lower.
What happens in the meantime is that lots of rock gets worn away due to erosion. Rain,
freeze/thaw cycle, wind and running water cause the big mountains to crumble a little bit at a
time. Eventually most of the broken bits of the rock end up in the streams & rivers that flow
down from the mountains. These little bits of rock & sand are called sediments.
When the water slows down enough, these sediments settle to the bottom of the lake or
oceans they run into. Over many years, layers of different rock bits settle at the bottom of
lakes and oceans.
Think of each layer as a page in a book. One piece of paper is not heavy. But a stack of
telephone books is very heavy & would squish anything that was underneath.
Over time the layers of sand and mud at the bottom of lakes & oceans turned into rocks.
These are called sedimentary rocks.
Sedimentary rocks often have fossils in them. Plants & animals that have died get covered up
by new layers of sediment and are turned into stone.Most of the fossils we find are of plants
& animals that lived in the sea. They just settled to the bottom.
Other plants & animals died in swamps, marshes or at the edge of lakes. They were covered
with sediments when the size of the lake got bigger.
When large amounts of plants are deposited in sedimentary rocks, then they turn into carbon.
This gives us our coal, oil, natural gas and petroleum. A large sea once covered the central
part of Canada and the climate was very tropical. In time, sedimentary rocks formed there.
That is why we find dinosaur fossils in Alberta and the area is a good source of natural fuels.
Sedimentary rocks cover 75% of the earths surface. Most of the rocks found on the Earths
surface is sedimentary even though sedimentary rocks only make up less than 5% of all the
rocks that make up Earth.
When rocks are exposed to the elements air, rain, sun, freeze/thaw cycle, plants erosion
occurs and the little bits of rock worn away get deposited as sediments. Over time, these
sediments harden as they get buried by more sediments and turn into sedimentary rocks.
Sedimentary rocks are usually formed in layers called strata. There are 6 main kinds of
sedimentary rocks depending on the appearance of the rock.

CONGLOMERATE rock has rounded rocks (pebbles, boulders) cemented together

in a matrix.

SANDSTONE is a soft stone that is made when sand grains cement together.
Sometimes the sandstone is deposited in layers of different colored sand.

SHALE is clay that has been hardened and turned into rock. It often breaks apart in
large flat sections.

LIMESTONE is a rock that contains many fossils and is made of calcium carbonate
&/or microscopic shells.

GYPSUM, common salt or Epsom salt is found where sea water precipitates the salt
as the water evaporates.

BRECCIA has jagged bits of rock cemented together in a matrix.

METAMORPHIC ROCKS
Metamorphic rocks are rocks that have changed. The word comes from the Greek "meta" and
"morph" which means to change form.
Metamorphic rocks were originally igneous or sedimentary, but due to movement of the
earth's crust, were changed. Metamorphic rocks are rocks that have been transformed by great
heat or pressure. Marble is an example of a sedimentary rock that has been changed into a
metamorphic rock.
If you squeeze your hands together very hard, you will feel heat and pressure. If you have
every aqueezed a piece of bread together and made it into a ball, it is changed and cannot be
changed back. That is what happens when metamorphic rock is made. When the earth's crust
moves, it causes rocks to get squeezed so hard that the heat and pressure causes the rock to
change.
Metamorphic rocks are the least common of the 3 kinds of rocks. Foliated metamorphic rocks
have layers, or banding. Non-foliated metamorphic rocks are not layered.

SLATE is transformed shale. It splits into smooth slabs.

SCHIST is the most common metamorphic rock. Mica is the most common mineral.

GNEISS has a streaky look because of alternating layers of minerals.

MARBLE is transformed limestone.

QUARTZITE is very hard.

ROCKS
All rocks are made of minerals. The rocks you see around you - the mountains, canyons &
riverbeds, are all made of minerals. A rock is made up of 2 or more minerals.
Think of a chocolate chip cookie as a rock. The cookie is made of flour, butter, sugar &
chocolate. The cookie is like a rock and the flour, butter, sugar & chocolate are like minerals.

MINERALS
A mineral is composed of the same substance throughout. If you were to cut a mineral
sample, it would look the same throughout. There are about 3000 different minerals in the
world.
Minerals are made of chemicals - either a single chemical or a combination of chemicals.
There are 103 known chemical elements. Minerals are sorted into 8 groups.

Native Elements ~ copper, silver, gold, nickel-iron, graphite, diamond

Sulfides ~ sphalerite, chalcopyrite, galena, pyrite

Halides ~ halite, fluorite

Oxides & Hydroxides ~ corundum, hematite

Nitrates, Carbonates, Borates ~ calcite, dolomite, malachite

Sulfates, Chromates, Molybdates, Tungstates ~ celestite, barite,

gypsum

Phosphates, Arsenates, Vanadates ~ apatite, turquoise

Silicates ~ quartz, almandine garnet, topaz, jadeite, talc, biotite mica

CRYSTALS

Crystals are minerals that have had the chance to grow in the shape that
they were meant to be.

Just like your DNA determines the colour of your eyes, how tall you will get
to be and the shape of your bones, the chemicals that a mineral is made
of determines what shape it gets to be.

We can tell different minerals apart by what crystal shape they are.

Sometimes minerals form in spaces where there is not a lot of room, so

they don't have a crystal shape.

When there is just a big hunk of a mineral, it is called a massive mineral.

If there is a definite shape with easy to see flat sides, it is called a mineral
crystal.

Most of the earth's crystals were formed millions of years ago.

Crystals form when the liquid rock from inside the earth cool and harden.

Sometimes crystals form when liquids underground find their way into
cracks and slowly deposit minerals.

Most mineral crystals take thousands of years to "grow" but some like salt
(halite) can form so quickly that you can watch them grow at home!

Some people think of crystals as clear pretty rocks that are used for
jewelry. Amethyst is a very common quartz crystal.

Crystals do not have to be clear, but those are the kinds you will usually
see in the stores.

GEMSTONES

Gemstones are often what people mean when they talk about "crystals".

There are many gemstones and most are used for jewelry or decoration.
These are minerals that are usually transparent and have been cut and
polished.

Some gemstones look similar to what the mineral looks like when found in
nature and others are very different.

Few minerals found in nature are suitable to use unaltered in jewelry. One
exception is the "Herkimer Diamond" which is a doubly terminated quartz
crystal which forms in vugs of gray rock and are found near Herkimer, New
York. These are not real diamonds - they are quartz crystals that look like
they have been cut & polished like a diamond.

SOIL, SAND & DIRT

When rocks break down into smaller & smaller pieces, they turn into sand.

If you look at the sand under a microscope, you will see that sand is made
up of the same minerals as the rocks that the sand came from.

When plants start to sprout up in sand, it is turning from being just small
bits of rock to being soil.

Soil is very important to life on earth. It supports plant life. We could not
live without plants.

Soil is made up of sand and decomposing plants and animals.

Soil has many names including: clay, silt, mud, dirt, topsoil, dust, potting
soil and humus