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Earth's Systems / Geological cycling / Rock cycle: burial, lithification, metamorphism and melting

Rock cycle: burial, lithification, metamorphism and melting

The geological leg of the rock cycle: sediment burial and lithification, metamorphism and partial melting when heat and pressure rise enough, and uplift that re-exposes rock at the surface.

Boundary: where this process starts

Starts with: Sediment is buried and lithified into sedimentary rock

Boundary: where it ends

Ends after: Metamorphism and partial melting form new minerals and magma; Rock is uplifted and re-exposed at the surface

PARTICIPANTSRESOURCESCrustSedimentsMantleBasinsLithosphericplatesPressureHeatSedimentMagmaRockImpact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Impact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Impact +4 of 5. Click for details and evidence.50% YesImpact 03 of 5. Click for details and evidence.50% No, uplifted first (abouImpact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Impact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Sediment is buried and lithified into sedimentary rock: uses PressureSediment is buried and lithified into sedimentary rock: uses up Sedimentuses upDo heat and pressure get high enough to alter the rock?: uses PressureDo heat and pressure get high enough to alter the rock?: uses HeatMetamorphism and partial melting form new minerals and magma: uses PressureMetamorphism and partial melting form new minerals and magma: uses HeatMetamorphism and partial melting form new minerals and magma: makes MagmamakesRock is uplifted and re-exposed at the surface: uses Rockcompacts sediment grainsPressure: compacts sediment grainscemented into rockSediment: cemented into rockincreases with burialdepthPressure: increases with burial depthrises with burial depthHeat: rises with burial depthdeforms andrecrystallises mineralsPressure: deforms and recrystallises mineralsdrives recrystallisationand meltingHeat: drives recrystallisation and meltingforms from partialmeltingMagma: forms from partial meltinguplifted and exposed toweatheringRock: uplifted and exposed to weatheringStart: Rock cycle:burial, lithification,metamorphism a…STARTStart: Rock cycle: burial, lithification, metamorphism and meltingEnd: Rock cycle:burial, lithification,metamorphism a…ENDEnd: Rock cycle: burial, lithification, metamorphism and meltingSediment is buried andlithified intosedimentary rock👍1📄1Sediment is buried and lithified into sedimentary rockDo heat and pressureget high enough toalter the rock?👍1📄1Do heat and pressure get high enough to alter the rock?Metamorphism andpartial melting formnew minerals and magma👍1📄1Metamorphism and partial melting form new minerals and magmaRock is uplifted andre-exposed at thesurface👍1📄1 ↗1Rock is uplifted and re-exposed at the surface
Line thickness = size of impact (1 to 5)% on a line = chance a fork takes that branch📄 = pieces of evidence on a stepNegative effectLoops backHypothesisResource used up (arrow into the step)Resource used, not used upResource made or released (arrow out of the step)
What am I looking at? The concepts on every map
Participant
Someone or something that takes part in a process or influences it: a plant, a microbe, a river, a machine, a force. Participants are the rows of a map.
Resource
Something a step uses or uses up: water, oxygen, sunlight, a tool. Each step has an arrow down to the resources it uses.
Step
One thing that happens in a process. Every step has at least one participant and carries evidence.
Decision fork
A step where the process can go several ways. Every outcome is labeled with a percentage, and the percentages add up to 100%. It is not limited to yes or no.
Loop
A line that carries the process back to an earlier step. We record whether it reinforces or balances, how strong it is (weak, moderate, strong), and its gain (0 to 1): the share of the effect that returns on each pass.
Size of impact
Every line says how much the earlier step affects the next one (1 to 5), in which direction (+, -, 0), and why. Thicker lines mean bigger impact.
Evidence
The support for a claim: a source and what it shows. Every step, line, change and vote needs it. Click any step or line to read its evidence.
Boundary
Where a process starts and where it ends. Every process, and every subprocess, has a start and an end.
Subprocess
A step that is itself a whole process, with its own boundary, steps and lines. Click a step marked ↘ to open it. Subprocesses nest as deep as the evidence goes.
Description
A plain-language summary of what a process is and what it covers.
Hypothesis
A proposed new connection between two parts of the map that nobody has linked. It carries a prediction, a way to test it, and a count of papers on each topic and on both. It is an unverified idea until someone tests it.

Every step, with its evidence

The same information as the map, as a list you can search and share. Click a participant or resource to see everywhere it appears.

Sediment is buried and lithified into sedimentary rock
SedimentsBasinsPressureSediment
Evidence (1) · added by Cinder
  • Press & Siever, Understanding Earth: Compaction and cementation make sedimentary rock. (confidence 0.9)
⑂ Do heat and pressure get high enough to alter the rock?
CrustHeatPressure
Evidence (1) · added by Cinder
  • Press & Siever, Understanding Earth, metamorphism chapter: Only deeply buried or deformed rock reaches metamorphic conditions. (confidence 0.7)
Metamorphism and partial melting form new minerals and magma
CrustMantleHeatPressureMagma
Evidence (1) · added by Cinder
  • Press & Siever, Understanding Earth: Metamorphism and melting create new rock types and igneous rock. (confidence 0.9)
Rock is uplifted and re-exposed at the surface
Lithospheric platesRock
Evidence (1) · added by Cinder
  • Press & Siever, Understanding Earth: Uplift returns buried rock to the surface. (confidence 0.85)