As a result, the Rock Cycle will be self-sustaining for thousands of millions of years. The Earth is 4.6 billion years old, but you won’t find rocks that old because they have been recycled into younger rocks. The rock cycle basic definiton is transitions among the three main rock types, which are metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary rocks. The rock cycle helps us understand what conditions helped formed those rocks, which can tell us a lot about the history of a region. Earthquakes shake and volcanoes erupt. The rock cycle by definition is a natural process by which sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks are created, changed from one type to another, and destroyed. The rock cycle is a web of processes that outlines how each of the three major rock types—igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary—form and break down based on the different applications of heat and pressure over time. When the pressure and heat get high enough, the sedimentary rock will metamorphose into a metamorphic rock and the cycle will start over again. Each of the rocks can be altered when they are force out equilibrium conditions.The rock cycle describes how the three rock types are interrelated and how processes change from one to another over time. Solar energy, gravity and radioactive heating are the major forces driving the Rock Cycle. Our Utah State Core specifically asks students to explain the role of energy in the rock cycle. Sections of the crust are on the move. He did not know about from inside the earth. The rock cycle simply moves from the igneous to metamorphic to sedimentary rocks and the process repeats itself over and over. In the rock cycle the three main rock types are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. 3.1 The Rock Cycle The rock components of the crust are slowly but constantly being changed from one form to another and the processes involved are summarized in the rock cycle (Figure 3.2). 4. Slowly this sediment rock will get covered with other rocks and end up deep in the Earth's crust. Over many thousands of years, energy from the Sun moves the wind and water at the Earth’s surface with enough force to break rocks apart into sand and other types of sediment. When sediment is buried and cemented together, it becomes a sedimentary rock such as sandstone or shale. Energy for the parts of the crustal cycle near the Earth's surface is solar and gravitational energy (which control erosion and weathering), whereas energy that drives processes beneath the surface is geothermal and gravitational energy (which control uplift, subsidence, melting, and metamorphism). Hutton knew about solar energy and gravity at the surface. One thing to note is that rocks don't need to follow this specific cycle. The Rock Cycle. radioactive heating The role of energy in the rock cycle is not addressed directly by most textbooks. The rock cycle Local types of earth materials FortisBC provides natural gas, electricity and alternative energy solutions to residential, commercial and industrial customers in BC. These and many other processes contribute to the rock cycle, which makes and changes rocks on or below the Earth’s surface. So on the scale of a human lifetime, rocks appear to be “rock solid” and unchanging, but in the longer term, change is always taking place. The Earth is an active planet. Mountains push up and wear down. The processes involved in the rock cycle often take place over millions of years. The rock cycle is a continuous process describing the transformation of the rocks through various stages through their lifetime. 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