Meaning & use
rock cycle
Last updated
Meaning
nounusually singulartechnical
The ongoing set of geological processes by which material changes among igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rock forms.
Grammar: Usually used with the as a fixed science phrase; the verb is singular when the cycle is the subject.
Patterns
- the rock cycle
- stages in the rock cycle
- explain the rock cycle
The rock cycle turns cooled lava into sediment and later into metamorphic rock.
In class, students modeled the rock cycle with wax and sand.
Weathering, heat, pressure, and melting all drive the rock cycle.
Common combinations
- the rock cycle
- The rock cycle links all three major rock groups.
- igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic
- Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic are the three rock families in the rock cycle.
- weathering and erosion in the rock cycle
- Weathering and erosion in the rock cycle break exposed rock into sediment.
- heat and pressure drive the rock cycle
- Heat and pressure drive the rock cycle deep underground.
Word family
Commonly confused: rock cycle or water cycle?
rock cycle vs water cycle
The water cycle moves water through evaporation, condensation, and precipitation; the rock cycle changes rocks between three rock types.
Practice
Which three rock types are central to the rock cycle?
Choose one answer.
The rock cycle is built around igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rock. The other lists mix in materials or states that are not the three basic rock classes.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “rock cycle”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.