The Rock Cycle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Rock Cycle - Essay Example The rock cycle is a way of representing the relationship among the three main types of rocks namely sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks. The rocks undergo a constant gradual transition from one form to another. The transitions depend on the physical conditions around them. This paper discusses the cycle and the way in which the rocks change from one form to the other.  The rock cycle is a way of representing the relationship among the three main types of rocks namely sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks. The rocks undergo a constant gradual transition from one form to another. The transitions depend on the physical conditions around them. This paper discusses the cycle and the way in which the rocks change from one form to the other.  Under the earth surface, the conditions available do not allow the rocks to exist in their solid state. Instead, they exist as magma that is a hot liquid. As the magma moves upwards, cooling takes place, and it finally solidifies to for m the igneous rocks. Some of the magma under pressure during the process of volcanicity moves out as lava on the earth surface. The result is volcanic rocks, which are of fine grains (Mattern, 2005).   On the earth surface, igneous rocks undergo the process of weathering since their components do not stabilize at the surface conditions. Moving water and wind are the main factors of weathering. The rocks are broken down to pieces or sediments and carried away mixing up with other components. After quite a long duration of time, the sediments are finally glued together to form sedimentary rocks (Mattern, 2005). Exposing the rocks to high temperature and pressure on the earth surface causes a physical change on them. The high temperature cause hardening of large masses of rocks called metamorphic rocks. The metamorphic rocks are responsible for forming Mountains. Both the metamorphic and sedimentary rocks can melt again to form magma under high temperature. Weathering occurs again on metamorphic rocks, resulting to the formation of sedimentary rocks. The rock cycle starts over continuously (Mattern, 2005).