Day 2 Mineralogy Flashcards
(233 cards)
What are the three major carbonate groups?
Calcite group, Aragonite group, Dolomite group
One of the most common rock-forming minerals, its crystals are extremely varied in habit and often complex. Important habits are prismatic, rhombohedral, and scalenohedral. Usually in crystals or in coarse- to fine-grained aggregates, and has rhombohedral perfect cleavage.
Calcite
The chemically pure and optically colorless variety of calcite
Iceland spar
Cellular deposits formed around hot or cold calcareous springs are known as?
travertine or tufa
Calcite is a late crystallization product in the cavities of lavas and is also a common mineral in hydrothermal veins associated with ____________
sulfide ores
Calcite may also be a primary mineral in some igneous rocks such as ____________ and ____________
carbonatites and nepheline syenite
Common as stalagmites, stalactites, and incrustations in cave deposits
Calcite
How is calcite distinguished from dolomite?
coarse fragments of calcite effervesce freely in cold dilute HCl
How is calcite distinguished from aragonite?
lower specific gravity and rhombohedral cleavage
Common in veins and irregular masses derived from the alteration of Mg-rich metamorphic and igneous rocks, and is a constituent of serpentinites and altered peridotites.
Magnesite
Magnesite that are a constituent of serpentinite is compact and cryptocrystalline and may be associated with ___________
opaline silica
This magnesite is found in talc, chlorite, and mica schists and in dolomitic limestones.
Cleavable magnesite
The white massive variety of magnesite resembles chert. How is magnesite distinguished from chert?
Magnesite has a lower degree of hardness (vs Chert)
How are cleavable magnesites are distinguished from dolomite?
by higher specific gravity
True or False: Magnesite dissolves in cold HCl.
False. Magnesite is almost nonreactive in cold HCl, but dissolves with effervescence in hot HCl.
As a vein mineral, in well-crystallized form, it is associated with metallic ores containing silver minerals, pyrite, chalcopyrite, and galena.
Siderite
Siderite with admixed clay minerals, in concretions with concentric layers
clay ironstone
Siderite found in shales and coal, contaminated with carbonaceous material.
blackband ore
Siderite is a common constituent of _________________, in association with chert and magnetite.
sedimentary Precambrian iron-formations
What causes the brownish color of siderite?
presence of iron
What distinguishes siderite from other carbonates?
Its brownish color and high specific gravity
How is siderite distinguished from sphalerite?
by its rhombohedral cleavage
True or False: Siderite is soluble as fragments in cold HCl.
False. Siderite is soluble in powdered form in cold HCI, and as fragments in hot HCI with effervescence.
A constituent of hydrothermal veins with ore minerals of silver, lead, and copper, and of manganese deposits.
Rhodochrosite