Critical Thinking Essay 1

Prompt 1

Imagine that a specimen has gone through the following transitions along the timeline given:

• 5 million years ago: a sandy beach
• 3 million years ago: a piece of sandstone
• 1.5 million years ago: a piece of quartzite
• Today: a piece of granite

Describe the processes that would have occurred to create each of the different specimens above. How would they have transitioned from one type to the next? What might become of this sample in the future? What function could each of these types of sediment or rocks have for humans? Be sure to use the information you have learned about plate tectonics, the rock cycle, use of minerals and rocks as resources, and the formation of minerals and the three major rock types.