Rock cycle

The set of geological processes through which rocks form, break down, and transform among igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic types.

Igneous rock: Rock formed when magma or lava cools and solidifies. Cooling magma or lava creates the igneous rocks that begin many cycle pathways.
Magma: Molten or partly molten rock beneath Earth's surface, containing dissolved gases and crystals. Magma is the subsurface material that cools into intrusive igneous rock.
Plate tectonics: The theory that Earth's lithosphere is divided into moving plates whose interactions shape the planet. Plate motion supplies burial, uplift, heat, and melting that drive many cycle pathways.
Rock-cycle diagram: A schematic showing pathways by which rocks and sediments change through geological processes. Diagrams simplify the cycle into arrows that can conceal its uneven, branching nature.
Mountain building: The geological processes that create mountain ranges, commonly through plate convergence, crustal thickening, or volcanism. Uplift exposes buried rocks to erosion and weathering, restarting surface pathways.
Sedimentary rock: Rock formed from accumulated sediment, chemical precipitates, or biological material that becomes lithified. Weathering supplies sediment that burial and lithification turn into sedimentary rock.
Lava: Magma that has reached Earth's surface. Lava cools at the surface to produce extrusive igneous rock.
Rock outcrop: An exposed bedrock surface or rock formation visible at Earth's surface. Outcrops preserve visible evidence of rock formation and later alteration.
Uniformitarianism: The principle that geological processes observable today also operated in the past, though their rates may vary. It supports reconstructing ancient cycle pathways from processes active now.
Volcanism: The ascent and eruption of magma, gases, and volcanic material at Earth's surface. Volcanism returns material from Earth's interior to the surface as lava and ash.

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