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• Physical weathering is a physical action which breaks up rocks : An example of this is called
freeze-thaw weathering when water gets into tiny cracks in rocks. When the water freezes it
expands, if this is repeated the crack grows and bits eventually break off.
• Chemical weathering is when the rock is chemically attacked: An example of this is the
breakdown of limestone by acid rain.
• Biological weathering is when rocks are weakened and broken down by animals and plants. An
example would be a tree root system slowly splitting rocks.
Erosion is a type of physical weathering which involves wearing down rocks. Have you heard of coastal
erosion? Read about the disaster at Beachy Head.
Transportation
The rock cycle goes round and round, taking hundreds of millions of years. Once the rock has been
broken down into smaller bits it's got to somehow move. Streams and rivers carry the small bits towards
the sea (continually wearing down as the they progress). Big rivers such as the Humber and the Severn
carry millions of tonnes of sediments out to sea each year.
Deposition
Deposition simply means that the sand and sediments in the sea eventually settle to the bottom
LOOK AT THIS ANIMATION:-
Sedimentary Rocks
Sedimentary rocks are formed in three steps:
Conglomerate
This is made from pebbles and smaller stones stuck together in a matrix.
Limestone
Mudstone or Shale
These are simply just mud hardened into rock. They consist of much finer particles than sand .They often
contain fossils.
Slate
This is formed from mudstone or clay and is the most common kind of metamorphic rock in Britain.
Pressure causes new minerals to grow in parallel sheets - which makes slate split easily to make roofing
tiles.
Marble
Marble is limestone that has been squashed and heated .The shells of the limestone breakdown and
recrystallise into tiny crystals. Marble is chemically the same as limestone but it is much harder and far
more expensive. Some of the finest marble comes from Italy and it is used for sculptures and as a fine
building material.
Schist
Formed from mudstones subjected to great heat over long periods of time. It looks to have layers of
banded crystals (It cannot be igneous because igneous rocks don't have layers)
Igneous Rocks
Igneous rocks form when molten rock (Magma if it is below the surface or lava if it has erupted from a
volcano) solidifies. These rocks can be identified by the following tell-tale clues:
• Igneous rocks contain a minerals randomly arranged in crystals (Remember CRYSTALS !!!!!!)
• If the rock has small crystals this means that it had rapidly cooled, possibly because it was
erupted into the ocean. We call it an EXTRUSIVE IGNEOUS rock. If the rock has large crystals it
means that it slowly cooled, the molten rock solidifies deep down within the crust without ever
reaching the surface via an eruption. We call it an INTRUSIVE IGNEOUS rock.
• The rock are usually tough and hard (With the most famous exception being pumice stone).
This bit is worth remembering:-
Basalt
This is the most common form igneous rock which makes up most of the ocean floors. It is smooth and
velvety-black in appearance and very hard. Basalt is formed when magma is erupted onto the sea-bed, as
soon as it hits the cold sea water it cools quickly - it's got tiny crystals.
Pumice
This rock floats on water. Carbon dioxide and water dissolved in the molten rock is released with the
decrease in pressure as it reaches the surface. Lava cools quite quickly in the air so the bubbles of gas
get trapped.
Granite
If molten rock doesn't reach the surface via a volcano and cools underground
instead, it solidifies very slowly (WHAT WOULD THE CRYSTAL SIZE BE?). This is
because overlying layers of rock insulate the magma keeping it warm, this only
allows gradual cooling. Some crystals grow to a much bigger size giving granite a
speckled appearance. Granite is the most common form of igneous rock in the UK.