GEOL 102 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Meteor Crater, Cles, Calcite
Document Summary
*most abundant group of minerals in earth"s crust & mantle. *primary constituents of igneous & metamorphic rocks, but also sedimentary. *most form at low temperatures near earth"s surface. *weathering: chemical & physical processes that break down rocks at earth"s surface. *the endless pathway along which rocks of various kinds change into rocks of other kinds. *linked by different processes operating at different temperatures, pressures, and times. *when rocks are less dense they want to rise & move towards surface. *plate tectonics is the scientific theory that drives the rock cycle. *a subducted slab of lithosphere sinks, melts, & becomes part of the asthenosphere. Convection carries the combined material upward along a spreading zone as new lithosphere, completing the cycle. *sediments are subducted, melt, & returns to surface through a volcano. Sediments eroded from volcanoes accumulate on seafloor & is subducted & melted, completing the cycle. *erosion of volcanic rock produces another generation of sediment.
