Name______Date______Period______
Sedimentary Rocks Cloze
Use each word below once in the article. There are no extra words.
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Sedimentary rocks form from particles deposited by water and wind. Sand grains, mud, and pebbles are some of the sediments that form sedimentary rock. ______is small, solid pieces of material that come from rocks or living things.
Weathering occurs when running water or wind loosens a piece of rock. Erosion occurs when the sediment is ______away. Eventually, the moving water or wind slows and deposits the sediment. ______is the process by which sediment settles or drops out of the water or wind carrying it. After sediment has been deposited, the processes of compaction and cementation change the sediment into ______rock. At first the layers are heavy and press down on the layers ______them. Then compaction occurs. ______is the process that presses sediments together. Year after year, more sediment falls, creating layers. The layers often remain visible in the sedimentary rock. While compaction is taking place, the ______in the rock slowly dissolve in the water. Cementation is the process in which dissolved minerals crystallize and ______particles of sediment together.
There are ______major groups of sedimentary rocks: clastic rocks, organic rocks, and chemical rocks. Most sedimentary rocks are composed of broken pieces of other rocks. A clastic rock is a sedimentary rock that forms when rock fragments are squeezed together. Clastic rocks are grouped by the ______of the rock fragments of which they are made. One common clastic rock is shale, which forms from tiny particles of clay. Sandstone is a ______rock formed from the compaction and cementation of small particles of sand. Some sedimentary rocks contain a ______of rock fragments of different sizes, including conglomerate, and breccia.
Organic rock forms where the ______of plants and animals are deposited in thick layers. Two important organic rocks are ______and limestone. Coal forms from the remains of swamp plants buried in water. Over millions of years, they slowly change into coal. The hard shells of living things produce limestone. These ______collect on the ocean floor. Over millions of years, compaction and cementation of shell particles produce limestone.
Chemical rock forms when mineral that are dissolved in a solution crystallize. For example, a type of limestone can form when calcite ______in water comes out of solution and crystallizes. ______rocks can also form from mineral deposits left when seas or lakes evaporate. For thousands of years, people have used sandstone and limestone as ______materials. Both types of stone are ______enough to be easily cut into blocks or slabs. Limestone is also use in making cement.