Vocabulary Review: Rocks

Here are the list of words and definitions you are responsible for your quiz Monday, September 15, 2008

Rock-forming minerals: The 20 minerals that make up most of the rocks of Earth's crust.
Granite: a usually light-colored igneous rock that is found in the continental crust
Basalt: a dark, dense igneous rock with a fine texture, found in the oceanic crust
Grains: The particles of minerals or other rocks that give a rock its texture
Texture: The look and feel of a rock's surface, determined by the size, shape, and pattern of a rock's grains.
Igneous Rock: A type of rock that forms from the cooling of molten rock at or below the surface
Sedimentary Rock:A type of rock that forms when particles from other rocks or the remains of plants and animals are pressed and cemented together
Metamorphic Rock: A type of rock that forms from an existing rock that is changed by heat, pressure, or chemical reactions
Extrusive Rock: Igneous rock that forms from lava on Earth's surface
Intrusive Rock: Igneous rock that forms when magma hardens beneath Earth's surface
Silica: a material found in magma that is formed from the elements oxygen and silicon
Sediment: small, solid pieces of material that come from rocks or organisms; earth materials deposited by erosion
Erosion: The process by which water, ice, wind, or gravity moves weathered rock or soil.
Deposition: Process in which sediment is laid down in new locations
Compaction: The process by which sediments are pressed together under their own weight
Cementation: The process by which dissolved minerals crystallize and glue particles of sediment together into one mass
Clastic Rock: Sedimentary rock that forms when rock fragments are squeezed together under high pressure
Organic Rock: Sedimentary rock that forms from remains of organisms deposited in thick layers
Chemical Rock: Sedimentary rock that forms when minerals crystallize from a solution
Coral Reef: A structure of calcite skeletons built up by coral animals in warm, shallow ocean water