Rock cycle
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The rock cycle is a basic concept in geology that describes transitions through geologic time among the three main rock types: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous. Each rock type is altered when it
This diamond is a mineral from within an igneous or metamorphic rock that formed at high temperature and pressure
Structures of Igneous Rock. Legend: A = magma chamber (batholith); B = dyke/dike; C = laccolith; D = pegmatite; E = sill; F = stratovolcano; processes: 1 = newer intrusion cutting through older one; 2 = xenolith or roof pendant; 3 = contact metamorphism; 4 = uplift due to laccolith emplacement.
Weathering
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Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals through contact with water, atmospheric gases, sunlight, and biological organisms. It occurs in situ, and so is distinct from erosion, whic
Rock cycle
…cycle and, on planets containing life, a biogeochemical cycle. Rocks exposed to the atmosphere are variably unstable and subject to the processes of weathering and erosion. Weathering and erosion break the original rock down into smaller fragments and carry away dissolved material. The transportation and…
A natural arch produced by erosion of differentially weathered rock in Jebel Kharaz (Jordan)
A rock in Abisko, Sweden, fractured along existing joints possibly by frost weathering or thermal stress
Exfoliated granite sheets in Texas, possibly caused by pressure release
Tafoni at Salt Point State Park, Sonoma County, California