Processes in the Rock Cycle: Sedimentary Rock & Sediments

Recall: What does the rock cycle describe? Choose the best answer.

• The path of water through rivers and oceans

• The formation, breakdown, and reformation of a rock

• Only the formation of sedimentary rocks

• How fossils are preserved in ice

Skill/Concept: Which sequence best explains how sedimentary rock forms according to the notes?

• Sediments melt and cool into layers

• Sediments accumulate, compact, and cement together

• Magma crystallizes and then erodes

• Minerals dissolve and evaporate to make crystals

Recall: Identify two named examples of sedimentary rock from the notes.

• Not sedimentary rock example in notes

• Sandstone

• Sedimentary rock

• Limestone

• Sedimentary rock

• Basalt

Strategic Thinking: A stream carries sand, pebbles, and boulder-size particles that scrape against each other. Using evidence from the notes, explain how this situation contributes to the creation of sediments and eventually sedimentary rock.

Skill/Concept: Which set lists common agents that cause erosion, as described in the notes?

• Wind, water, gravity, and ice

• Heat, pressure, and magma

• Sunlight, oxygen, and bacteria

• Lightning, earthquakes, and volcanoes

Recall: Fill in the blank with the exact term from the notes. The process that breaks down parts of Earth’s crust is called (a)   .

Recall the process: Which term describes the movement of broken rock pieces from one location to another by agents such as wind, water, or gravity?

• Weathering

• Erosion

• Deposition

• Cementation

Apply the concept: A river slows down as it enters a lake, and the sediment it was carrying settles into layers. What process is occurring when the sediment is left behind?

• Compaction

• Deposition

• Chemical weathering

• Metamorphism

Strategic thinking: A sidewalk passes near a garden. Over time, plant roots grow and crack the concrete into small pieces that blow into the street and later settle in a low-lying ditch. Identify the correct sequence of rock-cycle processes represented in this scenario.

• Cementation → Deposition → Erosion

• Weathering → Erosion → Deposition

• Compaction → Cementation → Weathering

• Deposition → Erosion → Compaction

Fill in the blank with the most precise term: During cementation, tiny new minerals fill gaps between (a)   pieces and harden to hold the grains together tightly.