By: Zach Ball, Ellie Ferguson, & Kasey

Rice

Story in the Rocks

Weathering Weathering is exposed rock decomposing

through various chemical and mechanical processes.

Chemical weathering is weathering that involves a chemical change in the minerals within a rock.

Mechanical weathering is weathering that is only physical, and does not involve a chemical change.

Erosion Erosion is when the earth’s surface is worn

down by glaciers, wind, water, and other processes, although the main agent of erosion is water. Erosion is when the particles that have been broken down move.

The difference between erosion and weathering is that in weathering there is no movement, once the particles move it is erosion.

Erosion… Continued.Deposition is when eroded

sediment is moved until it is deposited somewhere new. Deposition is when the moving sediment is put down.

Sediment is material that settles to the bottom of water and is produced by weathering and erosion.

Gravity is the force of attraction that holds things to the earth.

Rock Cycle & Fossils

The rock cycle is the process that forms and changes rocks. There are 3 types of rocks, sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic, and 3 ways rocks can form, cooling compaction, and immense levels of heat and/or pressure.

Fossils are impressions, traces, or remains of a living thing from another geological era. Fossils are formed when layers of sediment cover an organism, the organism mineralizes, and leaves a cast of itself.

A basic law about rock is the Law of Superposition. The law of superposition is that since rock is in layers the oldest rock will be on the bottom and the newest rock will be on top.

The geologic time scale is a standard method used to divide up earth’s history into manageable chunks.

Types of Rocks: Sedimentary

One type of rock is sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rocks are made from layers of eroded sediment that gathers in layers and is pressed together, this is called cementation. Sedimentary rocks are most often the rocks that contain fossils.

TYPES OF ROCKS: IGNEOUSIgneous rocks, sometimes called ‘fire rocks’

are made from cooling molten lava or magma. They are made either underground, or above ground when they come out of volcanoes.

Metamorphic rocks are rocks that have changed from other types of rocks through heat and/or pressure.

Types of Rocks: Metamorphic

The End