Which two processes convert sediment into a sedimentary rock?

Which two processes convert sediment into a sedimentary rock?

• A. Erosion and Weathering
• B. Compaction and Lithification
• C. Melting and Vaporization
• D. Crystallization and Cementation

Answer: (B)

Sediment becomes a sedimentary rock through lithification, the process that turns loose grains into solid rock. A central part of this is compaction, where the weight of overlying layers squeezes the grains closer together and reduces the pore spaces between them. The other part is lithification itself, which includes cementation—the precipitation of minerals from groundwater that binds the grains together. Together, compaction plus the binding action of lithification convert loose sediment into rock. Erosion and weathering break rocks down rather than form them. Melting and vaporization take material into liquid or gas states or into magma, not into sedimentary rock. Crystallization with cementation would mix an incompatible step with cementation, since crystallization isn’t the typical process that binds sediment into rock.

Sediment becomes a sedimentary rock through lithification, the process that turns loose grains into solid rock. A central part of this is compaction, where the weight of overlying layers squeezes the grains closer together and reduces the pore spaces between them. The other part is lithification itself, which includes cementation—the precipitation of minerals from groundwater that binds the grains together. Together, compaction plus the binding action of lithification convert loose sediment into rock.

Erosion and weathering break rocks down rather than form them. Melting and vaporization take material into liquid or gas states or into magma, not into sedimentary rock. Crystallization with cementation would mix an incompatible step with cementation, since crystallization isn’t the typical process that binds sediment into rock.