Module 5: Earth's Processes

7 dot points across 7 inquiry questions, in syllabus order. Each dot point has a focused answer, with exam-style questions and worked answers where available.

What are minerals, how do they form, and how are their physical and chemical properties used to identify them?

Investigate how minerals form by crystallisation and how their physical and chemical properties, including crystal structure, hardness, cleavage and composition, are used to identify them in the Australian context

Minerals. How minerals crystallise, the silicate framework, and identification by hardness, cleavage, lustre, streak and crystal form, with Australian examples such as opal and quartz.

6 min read →

How does the rock cycle continually recycle Earth's crustal materials between igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic forms?

Investigate the rock cycle, including but not limited to the formation of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks and the processes that transform one rock type into another in the Australian context

Rock cycle. How igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks form and transform into one another, with Australian examples such as Sydney sandstone and Broken Hill gneiss.

7 min read →

How do energy and matter move through the geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere to drive Earth's processes?

Investigate how internal and external sources of energy drive the movement of matter through Earth's interacting spheres, including but not limited to radiogenic heat, solar radiation and convection in the Australian context

How energy drives Earth's processes. Internal radiogenic heat, solar radiation, mantle convection and the coupling of the four spheres, with Australian examples.

6 min read →

How do the processes that occur within the Earth lead to the formation and concentration of mineral and ore deposits?

Investigate the processes that concentrate metals and minerals into economic ore deposits, including but not limited to magmatic, hydrothermal, sedimentary and weathering processes that operate in the Australian geological setting

How mineral and ore deposits form. Magmatic, hydrothermal, sedimentary and weathering concentration processes, with real Australian deposits including Broken Hill, Olympic Dam and the Pilbara iron ores.

7 min read →

How do weathering, erosion and soil-forming processes break down rock and build the soils that support life?

Investigate the physical, chemical and biological processes of weathering and erosion, and how they interact with climate and organisms to form soils, in the Australian context

Weathering and soil. Physical, chemical and biological weathering, erosion and transport, and soil profiles, with Australian examples including deep lateritic profiles and ancient infertile soils.

7 min read →

How have fossils and the rock record been used to reconstruct the history and changing environments of the Earth?

Analyse how relative and absolute dating methods, and the fossil record, are used to construct the geological time scale and to interpret past environments, including Australian examples such as the Ediacaran fauna and the Riversleigh deposits

Fossils and geological time. Relative and absolute dating, index fossils, the geological time scale, and Australian examples including the Ediacaran fauna of the Flinders Ranges and the Riversleigh fossil site.

6 min read →

What evidence supports the theory of plate tectonics, and how does it explain the large-scale features of the Earth?

Analyse the lines of evidence for continental drift and sea-floor spreading that led to the theory of plate tectonics, including but not limited to palaeomagnetism, fossil and rock matches and the Australian geological record

Evidence for plate tectonics. Continental fit, matching fossils and rocks, palaeomagnetism and sea-floor spreading, with Australian evidence from Gondwana.

7 min read →