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Module 2: Foundations in geology - Minerals and rocks

4 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do heat and pressure transform existing rocks, and how do we read metamorphic grade?

Metamorphic rocks: the agents of metamorphism (heat, pressure and chemically active fluids); the types of metamorphism (regional, contact and dynamic) and their settings; the development of foliation under directed pressure; metamorphic grade and the prograde sequence from mudstone (slate, phyllite, schist, gneiss); the use of index minerals (chlorite, garnet, kyanite, sillimanite) to indicate grade.
A focused answer to the OCR H414 dot point on metamorphism. Covers the agents (heat, pressure and fluids), regional, contact and dynamic metamorphism, the development of foliation, metamorphic grade and the mudstone prograde sequence (slate, phyllite, schist, gneiss), and the use of index minerals to indicate grade.
12 min answer →

How do loose sediments become solid rock, and how are sedimentary rocks classified?

Sedimentary rocks: the stages from sediment to rock (deposition, compaction and cementation as lithification); the classification of sedimentary rocks into clastic (by grain size, from conglomerate to mudstone), chemical (precipitates such as evaporites) and biogenic or biochemical (limestone and coal); the description of clastic texture using grain size, sorting and roundness.
A focused answer to the OCR H414 dot point on sedimentary rocks. Covers lithification (deposition, compaction and cementation), the clastic, chemical and biogenic or biochemical classes, the grain-size scale from conglomerate to mudstone, and how clastic texture is described using grain size, sorting and roundness.
12 min answer →

How are the three rock families linked, and how does material cycle between them?

The rock cycle: the continuous transformation between igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks; the processes that link them (crystallisation, weathering, erosion, transport, deposition, lithification, metamorphism, melting, uplift and exposure); the role of plate tectonics in driving the cycle; recognising that any rock type can be converted into any other.
A focused answer to the OCR H414 dot point on the rock cycle. Covers the continuous transformation between igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, the processes that link them (crystallisation, weathering, transport, lithification, metamorphism, melting and uplift), the role of plate tectonics in driving the cycle, and how any rock type can become any other.
11 min answer →

How do rocks break down, and how does transport sort and shape the sediment produced?

Surface processes: mechanical weathering (freeze-thaw, exfoliation and abrasion) and chemical weathering (solution, hydrolysis and oxidation); the difference between weathering and erosion; transport by water, wind and ice and its effect on the rounding and sorting of sediment; how the maturity and texture of a sediment record its transport history.
A focused answer to the OCR H414 dot point on surface processes. Covers mechanical weathering (freeze-thaw, exfoliation, abrasion) and chemical weathering (solution, hydrolysis, oxidation), the difference between weathering and erosion, transport by water, wind and ice, and how rounding, sorting and maturity record a sediment's transport history.
12 min answer →