Largest and slowest of the earth's cycles, consisting of geologic, physical, and chemical processes that form and modify rocks and soil in the earth's crust over millions of years.
The set of geologic processes by which each of the three great groups of rocks is produced from the other two: sedimentary rocks are metamorphosed to metamorphic rocks or melted to create igneous rocks, and all rocks may be uplifted and eroded to make sediments, which lithify to sedimentary rocks.
All rock at or near Earth's surface is being modified by the processes of metamorphism, melting, crystallization, lithification and weathering. These processes move rock material through the states of metamorphic rock, igneous rock, sedimentary rock, melts and sediment. The natural and continuous cycling of rock materials through these states is known as the rock cycle.
A series of events through which a rock changes, over time, between igneous, sedi mentary, and metamorphic forms.
Gradual and continuous change of rock in the earth's crust to igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic rock
The way how rocks (metamorphic, sedimentary, and igneous) inter-change from one to another.
the geologic cycle through which rocks are created, changed, and destroyed.
Processes where older rocks are made into new rocks through erosion and deposition, temperature and pressure, or melting and cooling.
The rock cycle decribes the relationship between igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. James Hutton (1727-1797) first developed the concept of the rock cycle.
a collection of processes which shape the surface of the Earth. Rocks are constantly recycled by burial, melting, uplift and erosion. These processes are driven by energy from inside the Earth and from the Sun (which drives processes in the atmosphere and leads to the weathering of rock).
The process through which one type of rock (igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic) is converted into another.
the process in which igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks are changed over time
A concept whereby rocks are thought of as being recycled repeatedly, eg from sediment to sedimentary rock to metamorphic rock to igneous rock etc.
The process whereby rocks are broken down by chemical and physical forces; sediments are moved by wind, water, and gravity, sedimented and reformed into rock, and then crushed, folded, melted, and recrystallized into new forms.
The ongoing process whereby rocks continually change from one type to another, typically through melting, metamorphism, uplift, weathering, burial, or other processes.
The rock cycle is a fundamental concept in geology that describes the dynamic transitions through geologic time among the three main rock types: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous. As the diagram to the right illustrates, each type of rock is altered or destroyed when it is forced out of its equilibrium conditions. An igneous rock such as basalt may break down and dissolve when exposed to the atmosphere, or melt as it is subducted under a continent.