Rocks and the Rock Cycle (FK 7.2)_01
Do you like studying ancient history and want to learn more about historical events? Do you like science and math and like to work in all types of environments? If so, the field of geology may be just the profession you are looking to pursue.
A geologist studies the solid Earth and explores how the Earth has changed over time. The goal of a geologist is to increase knowledge about the processes that shaped the Earth. To learn about these processes that have shaped the earth, a geologist searches for clues to enlighten him about the past. He needs to find evidence that will allow him to piece together past events in order to understand what processes played a role in shaping the landscape. Fortunately, the rock strata of a region are able to provide these clues. Much of what a geologist does is study the rock with the geologic column of an area. It is the rock strata of an area where a geologist acquires the geologic record of past events and clues to explain why.

Rocks are formed from a mixture of minerals and organic material. Geologists classify rocks based on how they were formed. For example, there are three major types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Any rock type can be transformed into another rock type through geologic processes. Rocks can also be altered to become a different rock of the same type. Rocks can therefore be used to identify the conditions of a region during the time the rock was formed.

The Earth is a dynamic planet and undergoes constant change. Rocks are part of this dynamic process that shapes the earth both above and below the surface. It is hard to think about a rock changing shape either internally or externally, but they do. These changes happen slowly over time, possibly taking millions of years. Sometimes these changes happen unseen deep below the earth’s surface. Other times they happen above ground, perhaps even on mountain tops. All these changes that occur to rocks within and on the Earth’s surface are part of the rock cycle.
Like all cycles on Earth, there is no beginning or end to the rock cycle. There is also not a single path that a rock takes as it changes over time.