Rock Cycle

• • The rock cycle is the progressive transformation of Earth materials from one rock to another over time
  • Involves processes of rock destruction and creation
• Rock cycle drivers

  • Earth’s internal heat and gravitational field together ultimately drive plate movements and plume associated hot spots
  • Plate interactions cause the uplift of mountain ranges - exposing rock to weathering and erosion, leading to sediment production
  • Plate interactions also generate the geologic settings in which pre existing rock melts and produces magma
  • Life plays a role in the rock cycle by biological weathering