Trace more than one rock-cycle route
See this course’s project requirements
An Earth-system evidence board linking a rock cycle, plate-boundary model, earthquake/volcano distribution and a cautious geological explanation.
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What to include
- Separate mineral, rock and geological process cards.
- Draw a branching rock-cycle route with process labels.
- Compare divergent, convergent and transform motion.
- Interpret supplied earthquake/volcano patterns with an exception.
- Distinguish hazard probability and post-onset warning from exact prediction.
- Build a bounded landform evidence board and complete changed cases.
Review and revise
Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.
- Method: applies the course-specific rules to the supplied cases with visible intermediate work.
- Accuracy: results agree with the stated facts, units, boundaries and independent checks.
- Reasoning: explains why the result follows and identifies a limitation or unresolved question.
- Transfer: completes changed cases and revises the final project when a relevant assumption changes.
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The idea in everyday life
Paper route: molten material cools→igneous rock; weathering breaks it into sediment; erosion transports sediment; deposition accumulates it; compaction/cementation makes sedimentary rock; heat and pressure change it to metamorphic rock without melting.
Igneous rock forms when molten material cools; sedimentary rock can form when sediments accumulate and become compacted/cemented; metamorphic rock forms through changes involving heat, pressure or fluids without melting into magma. The rock cycle is a network of possible routes, not a required circular schedule or a fixed-speed clock.
Trace more than one rock-cycle route — worked practice
Igneous rock forms when molten material cools; sedimentary rock can form when sediments accumulate and become compacted/cemented; metamorphic rock forms through changes involving heat, pressure or fluids without melting into magma. The rock cycle is a network of possible routes, not a required circular schedule or a fixed-speed clock.
Paper route: molten material cools→igneous rock; weathering breaks it into sediment; erosion transports sediment; deposition accumulates it; compaction/cementation makes sedimentary rock; heat and pressure change it to metamorphic rock without melting.
1. 1. Label
Name the rock produced after cooling.
You should see: Igneous rock.
2. 2. Trace
Label each step from rock fragments to a sedimentary rock.
You should see: Weathering, transport/erosion, deposition, compaction/cementation.
3. 3. Distinguish
Explain heat/pressure change versus melting.
You should see: Metamorphism retains a solid-rock process; melting would produce molten material for another route.
4. 4. Branch
Add an alternative path from existing rock to sediment.
You should see: Any exposed existing rock can weather; it need not complete every stage first.
What to finish
A labeled rock-cycle network with one alternative route.
Watch for this
Different conditions lead to different paths. A network model is more accurate than treating all rocks as a single compulsory cycle with fixed timing.
How can I tell I understand it?
Classify a changed solid-state transformation by the supplied conditions.
Quick knowledge check
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Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01
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