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Process diagram: The rock cycle

Pick out the main features of this process diagram for your overview, write your report on a 20-minute timer, then compare it with a band-8 model answer.

WRITING TASK 1

Process diagram

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The diagram below shows the formation and transformation of rocks over millions of years.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

The rock cycle
  1. 1WeatheringWind and water break down rock
  2. 2ErosionFragments are carried away by rivers and ice
  3. 3DepositionSediment settles in layers on the sea bed
  4. 4CompactionLayers are pressed under their own weight
  5. 5Sedimentary rockCementing forms rock such as sandstone
  6. 6Heat and pressureBuried rock is changed deep underground
  7. 7Metamorphic rockRock such as marble is formed
  8. 8MeltingExtreme heat turns rock into magma
  9. 9CoolingMagma cools and solidifies into igneous rock

The cycle then repeats from stage 1.

GoPrep wrote this practice question in the style of the exam. It is not an official IELTS question.

What your overview should say

An overview names the main trends or differences in one or two sentences, without numbers. These are the features a strong answer picks out:

  1. 1Overall, the rock cycle is a continuous natural process with nine stages, in which rock is broken down, buried, transformed and melted before reforming.
  2. 2Weathering and erosion break rock into sediment, which is deposited, compacted and cemented into sedimentary rock.
  3. 3Heat and pressure then change it into metamorphic rock, and melting and cooling produce igneous rock, which restarts the cycle.

Write it on the clock

Spend the first few minutes planning, then write.

20:00

0 words of 150 minimum

Your answer stays on this page only. Copy it before you leave.

Band-8 model answer

Write your own answer first, then compare: how it answers the exact question, what each paragraph does, and which phrases you could borrow.

Show model answer (174 words)

The diagram shows how rocks are formed and transformed over millions of years in the rock cycle.

Overall, the cycle has nine stages and is continuous, since the igneous rock that forms at the end can itself be broken down by weathering, which begins the cycle again.

The cycle can be described as starting with weathering, when rock is broken down by wind and water. The resulting fragments are then carried away by rivers and ice in a process called erosion. They are subsequently deposited as sediment, which settles in layers on the sea bed. Under their own weight, these layers are pressed together during compaction, and sedimentary rock such as sandstone is formed when cementing occurs.

At a later stage, the rock is buried deep underground, where it is changed by heat and pressure. Metamorphic rock, such as marble, is formed as a result.

If the temperature continues to rise, extreme heat turns the rock into magma. Finally, the magma cools and solidifies into igneous rock, and the cycle can begin once more.

Useful vocabulary

PhraseMeaning
weatheringbreaking down of rock by natural forces
erosionwearing away and carrying off of material
sedimentloose material such as sand
be depositedbe laid down
igneous rockrock formed from cooled magma
metamorphicchanged by heat and pressure

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