Chapter 3 Earth Materials: Minerals And Rocks Flashcards
(35 cards)
What are minerals?
Minerals are the building blocks of rocks
What is a Mineral?
A naturally occurring, solid crystalline substance, usually inorganic, with a specific chemical composition.
What kind of chemical bonds do we find in nature?
Ionic bonds: electrostatic attraction between ions of opposite charge
Covalent bonds: sharing of electrons
Metallic bonds: freely mobile electron sharing dispersed among cations
How do minerals form?
By the process of crystallization where atoms in the liquid or gaseous come together in the proper chemical proportions and proper special arrangement to form a solid substance.
What are crystals?
Orderly three-dimensional arrays of atoms in which the basic arrangement is repeated in all directions
What is a grain?
Solid mass of crystalline particles
How do minerals form?
By lowering the temperature of a liquid below its freezing point example ice.
When liquids evaporate from solution forming a precipitate example halite.
Under high temperatures and pressures example diamond.
Name the eight classes of rock forming minerals.
Silicates Carbonates Oxides Sulfides Sulfates Native elements Hydroxides Halides
What is a silicate?
The most abundant class of minerals in Earth’s crust, composed of oxygen and silicon-the two most abundant elements in the crust- mostly in combination with cations of other elements. Example Olivine (Mg,Fe)2SiO4
Carbonates are minerals composed of c_____ and o______- in the form of the carbonate anion- in the combination with c_____ and m_______.
Carbon Oxygen Calcium Magnesium Example Calcite CaCO3
What is an Oxide?
Compounds of the oxygen anion(O2-) and metallic cations; an example is the mineral hematite(iron oxide, Fe2O3)
What is a sulfide?
Compounds composed of the sulfide anion (S2-)and metallic cations an example is pyrite(iron sulfide, FeS2)
What are sulfates?
Compounds composed of the sulfate anion (SO42-)and metallic cations an example is anhydrite(calcium sulfate, CaSO4)
What are the physical properties of minerals?
Hardness Cleavage Fracture Luster Color Density Crystal habit
What is hardness and Mohs scale of hardness?
The ease at which a mineral can be scratched. A scale based on the ability of one mineral to scratch another.
Describe Mohs scales of hardness.
Mineral Scale number Common object
Talc 1
Gypsum 2 Fingernail
Calcite 3 Copper coin
Fluorite 4
Apatite. 5 Knife blade
Orthoclase. 6 Window glass
Quartz. 7 Steel file
Topaz 8
Corundum 9
Diamond 10
What is cleavage?
Cleavage is the tendency of a crystal to split along planar surfaces also used to describe the geometric pattern produced by such a breakage.
What is fracture?
Tendency of a crystal to break along irregular surfaces other than cleavage planes.
What is luster?
The way the surface of a mineral reflects light.
What are rocks?
A naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or in some cases, nonmineral solid matter.
What are igneous rocks?
Rocks formed by the solidification of molten rock(magma or lava), such as basalt and granite
What are sedimentary rocks?
Rocks formed as the burial products of layers of sediments such as sand, mud, or the calcium carbonate shells of marine organisms.
What are metamorphic rocks?
Rocks formed by the transformation of pre-existing solid rock under the influence of high temperatures and pressure.
What is the difference between an intrusive and an extrusive igneous rock?
Intrusive igneous rocks crystallize when magma intrudes into unmelted rock masses deep in earths crust forming large crystals such as granite.
Extrusive igneous rocks form when lava cools rapidly at Earth’s surface having a glassy or fine grained texture such as basalt.
