Next Gen Global Water and Rock Cycle Vocab

Crystallization

Taking a material from its liquid or molten form and gradually freezing it until the atoms or molecules are highly organized into a structure known as a crystal

Chemical Sedimentary Rock

Formed from the precipitation of minerals from water, often resulting in rocks like limestone and rock salt.

Intrusive Igneous

Rock formed from magma that cools slowly beneath the Earth's surface, allowing large crystals to develop.

Extrusive Igneous

Rock formed from magma erupting on the Earth’s surface that cools quickly on the surface, resulting in small crystals.

Plutons

large, intrusive igneous rock bodies that form from cooled magma beneath the Earth's surface.

Plutonic

relating to or denoting rocks that solidified from magma deep within the Earth, typically coarse-grained.

Lithification

Compacting and cementing of sediments (like sand and clay) into a solid sedimentary rock

Contact Metamorphism

a process where rocks are changed by heat and pressure due to nearby molten magma or hot fluids.

Physical Weathering

The process of breaking down rocks into smaller pieces through physical forces such as temperature changes, freeze-thaw cycles, and abrasion.

Chemical Weathering

The process of breaking down rocks through chemical reactions. Original elements end up in a solution where new minerals may form.

Clastic Rock

A type of rock that is made from fragments of pre-existing rocks and minerals that are compacted and cemented together, typically formed through sedimentary processes.

Bioclastic Rock

A type of sedimentary rock composed of fragments derived from organisms, such as shell or coral debris, often resulting from biological processes.

Foliation

The texture of metamorphic rocks characterized by the repetitive layering, resulting from directed pressure and heat during metamorphism.

Non-foliated

rock that does not exhibit layering or alignment of mineral grains, often formed from metamorphosed limestone or marble.

Regional Metamorphism

A type of metamorphism that occurs over large areas under high pressure and temperature, leading to the formation of foliated rocks.