Abstract
<jats:p>Purpose. To investigate the geological processes of rock formation with consideration of the circulation of matter and energy. Methods. An analytical study of rock formation processes was carried out, beginning with the accumulation of bottom sediments and continuing through cementation, oriented and chaotic recrystallization, and volcanism, considering these processes as a unified cycle or circulation of matter and energy. Results. Any circulation process consists of three stages: energy accumulation, release of previously accumulated energy from matter, and dissipation of the released energy. Any rock is composed of natural mineral substances, including solids and fluids. Rocks of all types at the surface of the lithosphere absorb solar energy and undergo destruction through hypergenesis (weathering). The products of hypergenesis are transported by gravity, water, glaciers, and wind into lowered areas of the lithosphere and to the bottoms of seas and oceans. Once sediments begin to be covered by successive layers of sedimentary particles, an intermediate stage of the circulation of matter and energy within the lithosphere begins, accompanied by the release of accumulated energy. After accumulation, sediments undergo subsequent transformation stages: cementation, oriented recrystallization with the formation of schistose and gneiss-like structures, and chaotic recrystallization resulting in the formation of marble, quartzite, and granite. The burial of sufficiently thick marine clay sediments causes the formation and expulsion of large volumes of gas-water solutions of various compositions. Oriented crystallization has a metasomatic character. Increasing lithostatic pressure from overlying strata continues to expel water and gases (volatile compounds) from rocks. With increasing depth, gneisses gradually transform through granite-gneisses into granites. During the recrystallization of layered shell material into granite, part of the released oxides dissolves in water, forming a heated, highly mineralized water-silicate solution of basaltic composition. In the Earth’s gravitational field, the heated basaltic solution rises upward. The highly heated foamy emulsion begins to cool and crystallize. The ascent of the complex highly mineralized solution leads to coagulation, that is, the separation of part of the substance from the solution with the formation of sediment or gel. The heated highly mineralized water-silicate solution rising to the surface as lava forms porphyritic rocks during cooling. The final stage of the circulation of matter and energy in the lithosphere is volcanism. Energy and matter released during the recrystallization of sediments buried within the Earth’s interior are transported to the surface. Thus, the cycle becomes complete. Scientific novelty. Geological processes such as hypergenesis, sedimentogenesis, metamorphism, and volcanism should not be considered separately but rather as a single cycle or circulation of matter and energy. Practical significance. The research enables a deeper understanding of rock destruction processes through the study of rock formation as a unified cycle or circulation of matter and energy.</jats:p>