🪨 Rock Cycle Explorer

Discover how rocks transform over millions of years

📋 How to Use This Simulation
  1. Click a rock type to learn about its characteristics
  2. Click a process arrow to see how rocks transform
  3. Watch the animation showing the transformation
  4. Use the scenario buttons to trace complete journeys
  5. Notice how time passes during each transformation
Simulated Time: 0 million years
☁️ Surface 🏔️ Crust 🔥 Mantle
🌋 IGNEOUS
📚 SEDIMENTARY
💎 METAMORPHIC
🔥 MAGMA
⬅️ Weathering & Erosion
⬇️ Compaction
⬇️ Heat & Pressure
⬇️ Heat & Pressure
⬇️ Melting
⬆️ Cooling
⬆️ Uplift

🌋 Igneous Rock

Formation: Cooled magma or lava

Examples: Granite, Basalt, Obsidian

Features: Crystalline, no layers

📚 Sedimentary Rock

Formation: Compressed sediments

Examples: Sandstone, Limestone, Shale

Features: Layers, may contain fossils

🔄 Select a Process

Click on any process arrow to learn how rocks transform from one type to another. Each transformation takes millions of years!

Data Journal — Record & Analyze Your Experiments
#Observation
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💡 Key Concepts

  • Igneous rocks form when magma cools (slow cooling = large crystals; fast cooling = small crystals)
  • Sedimentary rocks form when sediments are compacted and cemented together over time
  • Metamorphic rocks form when existing rocks are changed by heat and pressure
  • The rock cycle never stops - rocks continuously transform over millions of years
  • Plate tectonics drives the cycle - subduction, uplift, and volcanism move rocks through the system

🤔 PREDICT

If a granite rock is buried deep underground near a subduction zone, what type of rock might it become? Why?

👀 OBSERVE

Run each scenario. Which transformations take the longest? Which rock type can become any other type directly?

💬 EXPLAIN

How does the rock cycle connect to plate tectonics? Where do the heat and pressure come from?

Record Your Observations

As you explore Rock Cycle G7 C7 W1, record what you notice:

  1. Starting conditions: What are the initial settings?
  2. Changes: What happens when you adjust the variables?
  3. Patterns: Do you notice any patterns or relationships?
  4. Evidence: What specific data supports your observations?