I have taken an introduction to physical geography and a
fundamentals of geomorphology course.
These, and various history channel segments on how the earth was made
are the primary sources of what I know about the rock cycle. Plate tectonics drive land and ocean formation
in across the planet. Circulation of
heat in the interior of the planet drives the movement of the Earth’s
crust. Earth’s plates are moving into,
away, and right alongside each other.
These various movements cause plates to be driven down, re-entering the
asthenosphere, plates to be driven up creating mountains, or they cause plates
to shift violently as two plates move along a fault line causing an earth
quake. These processes create three different
kinds of rock: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. After rock is lifted to create land, the rock
begins to be eroded.
Through various chemical and
physical process like dissolution and mass wasting, rock is broken up into
smaller bits and eroded via wind or water to a lower spot on the earth. In many cases, this can be more land in the
case of glacial till retained on the continents after the last ice age, or
river effluent carrying sediments in the water column to be deposited on the
ocean shelf or ocean floor. As more sediment
is added to the top, lower sediments start to compress and either become
concreted together with minerals or, with enough heat and pressure, start to
fuse together. These processes of
deposition create various sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.
What I Want to Know:
The topics I would like to explore
in the rock cycle are:
1.
What are the structures underlying the crust and
what causes them to move?
2.
What conditions are needed for metamorphosis to
work?
3.
What kinds of activities would be helpful with
new students to show the rock cycle?
4.
When does sediment become rock?
( ( (((( ( ((( o ))) ) )))) ) )
I think you have a good base, but I know little about this material so any questions or insights are really shots in the dark.
ReplyDeleteHow do these plates effect our knowledge of the earth's age and our concept of time?
What times of areas on the surface have plate interactions below them and why is it that these areas have more interaction, or was it just bad luck?
Man you already have a better handle than I will ever have on it. My science classes are over and I kind of remember what you are talking about from a high school science class. It actually sounds like some pretty interesting stuff that could shed a lot of insight about the planet. Makes me kind of wish I was science because there are so many more things to exolore.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting I didn’t know it goes in a cycle. It reminds me of the photosynthesis cycle. I think the movement of tectonic plates are very interesting. Like how you get different results depending on the way two tectonic plates bump, you might get a volcano or an earthquake. I don’t know if this fits but another interesting thing to look at may be about Pangea, and how the various continents moved where they are today.
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