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Quick TrainerRocks & Minerals: How They Form
Learn the three rock types, common minerals, and the geologic processes that create them.
Science34 items3 levelsDifficulty 2/5
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Levels
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1
Rock Basics
9 items
2
Common Rocks
11 items
3
Minerals & Processes
14 items
All 34 cards
What type of rock forms when molten magma or lava cools and solidifies?
igneous
What type of rock forms from layers of sediment compacted and cemented over time?
sedimentary
What type of rock forms when existing rock is changed by heat and pressure?
metamorphic
What is the continuous process by which rocks change from one type to another?
the rock cycle
What molten rock below Earth's surface, when cooled, forms igneous rock?
magma
What is molten rock called once it reaches Earth's surface?
lava
What naturally occurring solid with a definite chemical composition makes up rocks?
mineral
Igneous rock that cools slowly deep underground is called what type?
intrusive
Igneous rock that cools quickly at the surface is called what type?
extrusive
What coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock is common in continental crust?
granite
What dark, fine-grained extrusive igneous rock makes up most oceanic crust?
basalt
What sedimentary rock is made of cemented sand grains?
sandstone
What sedimentary rock forms mainly from the mineral calcite and marine shells?
limestone
What soft sedimentary rock forms from compacted mud and clay?
shale
What metamorphic rock forms when limestone is subjected to heat and pressure?
marble
What metamorphic rock forms when shale is metamorphosed at low grade?
slate
What banded metamorphic rock often forms from granite under high grade conditions?
gneiss
What metamorphic rock forms when sandstone recrystallizes?
quartzite
What process breaks rocks into smaller pieces through weather, water, and ice?
weathering
What process moves weathered sediment from one place to another?
erosion
The pressing of sediment layers under their own weight is called what?
compaction
The 'gluing' of sediment grains by minerals to form rock is called what?
cementation
What is the most abundant mineral group in Earth's crust?
silicates
What hard mineral made of silicon dioxide is a common rock-former?
quartz
What mineral group includes the most common minerals in the crust, like orthoclase?
feldspar
What sheet-like mineral splits into thin flexible flakes?
mica
What mineral, with a 1–10 ranking, measures a mineral's scratch resistance?
hardness
The scale used to rank mineral hardness from talc to diamond is named after whom?
Mohs
What is the softest mineral (hardness 1) on the Mohs scale?
talc
What is the hardest natural mineral (hardness 10) on the Mohs scale?
diamond
Sedimentary rock made of rounded gravel cemented together is called what?
conglomerate
What rock forms directly from cooled lava with a glassy texture and no crystals?
obsidian
The arrangement of repeating atoms that gives minerals their shape is called what?
crystal structure
Sedimentary rock formed from evaporated seawater leaving salt behind is an example of what type?
evaporite
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