Can someone help with some 7th grade science questions about rocks?

Question

The Mississippi River carries tons of tiny rock fragments called sediments into the golf of Mexico. What will happen to these sediments after a few million years

Answer 1

After separating into layers, based on the size of each sediment, they harden and form into sandstone.

Answer 2

Gulf of Mexico Basin

This portion of the Gulf of Mexico contains the Sigsbee Deep and can be further divided into the continental rise, the Sigsbee Abyssal Plain, and the Mississippi Cone. Located between the Sigsbee escarpment and the Sigsbee Abyssal Plain, the continental rise is composed of sediments transported to the area from the north. The Sigsbee Abyssal Plain is a deep, flat portion of the Gulf bottom located northwest of Campeche Bank. In this relatively uniform area of the Gulf bottom, the Sigsbee Knolls and other small diapiric (salt) domes represent the only major topographical features. The Mississippi Cone is composed of soft sediment and extends southeast from the Mississippi Trough, eventually merging with other sediments of the central basin. The cone is bordered by the DeSoto Canyon to the east and the Mississippi Trough to the west, and has been described in detail by Ewing et al. (1958).



Basically, because the rocks from the Mississippi are so soft they will eventually merge with the harder rocks at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico creating.... Sandstone!!!

Answer 3

Short answer: They will turn into sedimentary rock.



Longer answer: Sediment is little bits of rock, dirt, even some organic (formerly living) material. It's glop, basically. The particles are smaller than sand particles. What's interesting about this glop is that, after a few million years, the little particles will all glom together, forming rock! This type of rock is called SEDIMENTary rock, for obvious reasons. Certain types of sedimentary rock I'm familiar with are sandstone and limestone.



Interestingly, that's not the end of the story. If this SEDIMENTary rock is undisturbed, and somehow (too complex to discuss here) gets buried under a mountain or lots of heat and pressure, for many MORE million years, the chemicals in the rock undergo a change. They get harder and mroe like crystals. Ta-da, the sedimentary rock is now METAMORPHIC rock (because it has undergone this metamorphosis of becoming harder and more crystalline.) So limestone, a sedimentary rock, will become marble, a metamorphic rock, after exposure to millions of years of heat and pressure.



Sedimentary rock is not strong stuff. Often, if you rub it with a finger, you can rub off little pieces of sediment--little bits of grit. There's no way you could ever do this with metamorphic rock.



Geology is fun! And there's one other type of rock, but I'll leave it up to you to find out.

Answer 4

haha I learn about rocks and sediments this year :P I guess more and more sediments will just pile up over each other..

Answer 5

They turn into sandstone