Science Vocabulary
Terms
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- texture
- the look and feel of the rock's surface
- rock-forming minerals
- minerals that make up most of the rocks of Earth's crust
- grains
- most rocks are made up of particles of minerals or other rocks
- coral reef
- a structure made of skeletons that have grown together
- clastic rocks
- forms when rock fragments are squeezed together
- sedimentary rock
- forms when particles of other rocks or the remains of plants and animals are pressed and cemented together
- extrusive rock
- igneous rock formed from lava that erupted onto Earth's surface
- compaction
- process that presses sediments together
- organic rocks
- remains of plants and animals are deposited in thick layers
- intrusive rock
- igneous rock that formed when magma hardened beneath Earth's surface
- deposition
- process by which sediment settles out of the water or wind carrying it
- basalt
- dark-colored rock that is low in silica
- foliated
- metamorphic rocks that have their grains arranged in parallel layers or bands
- rock cycle
- a series of processes on Earth's surface and in the crust and mantle that slowlt change rocks from one kind to another
- erosion
- running water, wind, or ice loosen and carry away fragments of rock
- cementation
- process in which dissolved materials crystallize and glue particles of sediment together
- chemical rocks
- minerals dissolved in a solution crystallize
- igneous rock
- forms from the cooling of magma or lava
- granite
- a light-colored rock that is low in silica
- sediment
- small, solid pieces of material that came from rocks or living things
- metamorphic rock
- forms when an existing rock is changed by heat, pressure, or chemical reactions