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Rocks and Minerals Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the 4 characteristics that a mineral must have?

A
  • Solid
  • Naturally occurring
  • Has a definite chemical composition
  • On the atomic level the atoms are bound in a rigid geometric 3D arrangement (crystalline)
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2
Q

What is the difference between a rock and a mineral?

A
  • Minerals have a definite chemical composition and are purely that repeating compound (Ex: Salt is all NaCl)
  • Rocks are mixtures composed of grains from multiple minerals (Ex: Basalt is made of mainly of plagioclase and pyroxene minerals.)
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3
Q

What are 5 methods used to identify minerals?

A

Color, hardness, streak, luster, and cleavage

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4
Q

What is Mohs’ Hardness Scale? How do you use the scale to determine the hardness of a mineral?

A
  • A scale created by Friedrich Mohs to measure mineral hardness
  • You scratch a mineral against one of the members of the scale and see which one is scratched
  • If it is the unknown mineral, then the mineral is softer than that particular member of the scale
  • If the member of the MHS is scratched, then the unknown mineral has a greater hardness
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5
Q

Why are some minerals harder than others?

A

Mineral hardness depends on how strong the chemical bonds of the mineral are

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6
Q

Can you recognise a mineral with good cleavage?

A

Yes, different planes will usually be easy to see, some are hard to identify immediately, so it is important to look at all angles

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7
Q

What determines the color of a mineral?

A
  • By what colors of light are absorbed by the mineral and which are reflected
  • All but one color in a light ray gets absorbed by it, reflecting the remaining colors out to your eyes
  • Ex: green mineral absorbs all colors but reflects green
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8
Q

What is the most abundant mineral family? Why?

A

Silicate minerals are the most abundant mineral family (90% of minerals) because Earth’s crust is rich in silicon.

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9
Q

What are the native elements?

A

Minerals that are made of one individual element (gold, silver, etc.).

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10
Q

Why is color not a good diagnostic property to determine minerals?

A
  • One mineral could be many different colors or vary in color (ex: quartz and fluorite)
  • Two very different minerals could have the same color
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11
Q

What is double refraction? (ex)

A

When you look through a translucent mineral, it will show two copies of an object, two different rays of light, creates a double image
Ex: calcite

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12
Q

Know the order of minerals on Moh’s Scale of Hardness.

A

Talc(1), gypsum(2), calcite(3), fluorite(4), apatite(5), orthoclase- feldspar(6), quartz(7), topaz(8), corundum- ruby, saphire(9), diamond(10)

2.5: Fingernail
3.5: Penny
4-5: Steel nail
5.5: Glass
6.5: Streak Plate

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13
Q

What is an igneous rock?

A

A rock that was created by the solidification (freezing) of magma

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14
Q

What is a sedimentary rock?

A

Formed by the deposition (deposited somewhere) and lithification (sediments turn into rocks) of sediments such as:
1) Fragments of preexisting rock that have been eroded and transported by water, wind, ice, and gravity
(Ex: conglomerate, sandstone, shale)
2) Remains of plants and animals
Plants buried before they decay
(Ex: coal, fossiliferous limestone)
3) Minerals that have precipitated out of salty water (usually seawater) - evaporite sedimentary rocks
Straight that leads into the Mediterranean sea seals up – salt deposits build up

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15
Q

What is a metamorphic rock? (ex)

A

Rocks formed from preexisting rocks by the application of pressure (by burial far below the surface) and/or heat (by the arrival of a nearby body of magna)
Ex: gneiss, marble, limestone, quartzite, slate

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16
Q

Be able to describe which one type of rock can be directly converted to another

A
  • Metamorphic, igneous, sedimentary –> metamorphic
  • All rocks can change into sediments, and then into sedimentary
  • Metamorphic can be changed into igneous, but sedimentary can’t directly turn into an igneous rock
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17
Q

Upon what is the classification scheme for igneous rocks based?

A
  • Texture
  • Environment of Formation
  • Mineral composition
  • Crystal size
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18
Q

What is the difference between extrusive igneous rocks and intrusive igneous rocks?

A

Extrusive rocks are created from a volcanic eruption, where intrusive rocks are created from inside the mantle

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19
Q

What is the difference between lava and magma?

A
  • Lava is magma that has been erupted out of a volcano/magma that is on the surface of the Earth
  • Magma is just molten rock that hasn’t been erupted
  • All lava is magma but not all magma is lava
  • Not all magma gets to the surface – solidifies inside the Earth – not volcanic
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20
Q

Why does magma cool and solidify more slowly beneath the surface than at the surface?

A

It is surrounded by other hot material inside the Earth, where at the surface it is surrounded by cooler air

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21
Q

Why would you expect to find larger minerals in intrusive rocks than volcanic rocks?

A

When rocks cool inside the Earth, the temperature of mantle around the rock is warmer, giving them more time to cool. This allows for minerals to form for a longer period of time

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22
Q

What is the source of the heat that melts rocks deep below the Earth’s surface to form magma?

A

Radioactivity in the Earth’s core, leftover heat from the formation of Earth, and pressure

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23
Q

What causes some volcanic igneous rocks to have very low density because they are full of holes and air spaces?

A

The air pockets get stuck within the lava and lower the density of the mineral

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24
Q

What type of lava is produced by most of the volcanoes that surround the Pacific?

A

Intermediate igneous rocks are found at volcanic arcs, which surround the Pacific plate

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25
What are the sources of mafic and felsic magmas (what is melted to produce these lavas)?
Mafic magma is found in the mantle, and felsic magma is found near the crust
26
Be able to name places around the world where you could go and collect mafic igneous rocks (or intermediate rocks).
Hawaii, there is basaltic lava, a hotspot volcano
27
What are the three different types of volcanoes? What are their characteristics?
1) Composite volcanoes (stratovolcanoes) 2) Cinder cones 3) Shield volcanoes
28
Be able to describe the process whereby sedimentary rocks are created from loose sediments (Be sure to talk about the water table and the zone of saturation).
- Water and erosion produces loose sediments, then they are deposited and buried under other sediments - Once the sediments reach the water table, they are saturated and they are compacted and cemented until they turn into sedimentary rock
29
Be able to describe how the major types of sedimentary rock zones form (that is clastic, chemical, and organic sedimentary rocks).
1) Clastic sedimentary rocks form from fragments of preexisting sedimentary rock that has been transported by water, wind, or ice. 2) Chemical sediments, or evaporites, are minerals that have precipitated out of evaporating water. 3) Organic sediments formed from the remains of plants and animals.
30
How does coal form?
Coal is an organic sediment, formed from the remains of plants and animals building up over a long period of time
31
Andesite
- Extrusive - Igneous - Intermediate composition - Ranges from aphanitic to porphyritic
32
Aphanitic
A rock with microscopic crystals in it, very fine in texture
33
Caldera
A large volcanic crater formed by a major eruption after the emptying of the magma chamber leading to the collapse of the mouth of the volcano
34
Cementation
The last step of turning sediments into sedimentary rock
35
Chemical Sedimentary Rock
Minerals that have precipitated out of evaporating water to form an igneous rock
36
Cinder Cone
- Have very steep slopes - Smallest type of volcano, most common type - Erupt tephra (felsic) - Made of pyroclastic material and have explosive eruptions
37
Chemical Composition
The arrangement, type, and ratio of atoms in molecules of chemical substances
38
Clastic Sedimentary Rock
Form from fragments of preexisting sedimentary rock that has been transported by water, wind, or ice
39
Cleavage
- A sharp division or split on a flat plane created when a mineral breaks (because of a weakness in the bonds holding the mineral together along that plane) - Not all minerals have cleavage
40
Coal
An organic sediment formed from the remains of plants and animals found deep underground
41
Color
Determined by what rays of light are absorbed by the mineral and which are reflected
42
Compaction
The second to last step (before cementation) involved in turning sediments into sedimentary rock
43
Composite Cone
- Made of alternating layers of hardened lava flows and pyroclastic material, and alternate between quiet (lava flows) and explosive eruptions (large amounts of pyroclastic material) - Erupts lava and tephra - Material intermediate in composition - Found at arcs, intermediate in composition and has viscous magma
44
Conglomerate
- Phaneritic - Intrusive - Igneous rock - Large pebble sized rocks
45
Crystalline
Having the structure and form of a crystal; rigid and 3D
46
Density
- One characteristic of a rock that can help figure out what it is - How much mass per square inch
47
Diorite
- Intermediate - Intrusive - Phaneritic - Non vesicular - Igneous rock
48
Evaporite
Minerals that have precipitated out of evaporating water
49
Felsic
- Melt of crust - Light colored - Low density - Rich in silicon, aluminum, sodium, and potassium - 600-800 degrees celsius - High magma viscosity - High in Potassium feldspar, quartz, plagioclase feldspar - Low in biotite and amphibole
50
Gabbro
- Intrusive - Mafic - Phaneritic - Non vesicular - Igneous rock
51
Granite
- Intrusive - Felsic - Phaneritic - Non vesicular - Igneous rock
52
Hardness
The ability of a mineral to resist scratching
53
Lahar
Destructive mudflow on the slope of a volcano
54
Lithification
The process in which sediments compact under pressure, expel fluids, and gradually become solid rock
55
Luster
- How much light a mineral reflects, or how shiny a mineral is - Metallic or nonmetallic - Nonmetallic: glassy, pearly, dull, etc
56
Mafic
- Melt of mantle (divergent, hotspots) - Dark in color - High density - Rich in iron + magnesium and low in silicon - Form in temperatures between 1000-1400 degrees celsius - Low viscosity - High in pyroxene, plagioclase feldspar, olivine - Low in amphibole
57
Magmatic Temperature
The temperature of the magma before the rock cools
58
Magma Viscosity
- The amount of thickness of a lava flow | - The more silica, the more viscous magma can be
59
Mineral
A solid, inorganic substance of natural occurrence that is chemically composed of different elements with different hardness
60
Mohs Scale
A scale created by Friedrich Mohs used to determine how strong a mineral's chemical bonds are
61
Native Elements
Minerals composed of just a single element, examples are gold and silver
62
Obsidian
- Extrusive - Felsic - Glassy - Non vesicular - Igneous rock - Jet black because of iron molecules sparsely spread throughout it
63
Organic Sedimentary Rock
Form from the remains of plants and animals
64
Phaneritic
Coarse grain, the crystals are easily seen with the naked eye
65
Porphyry
A type of mineral that had two periods of cooling making there be big crystals and microscopic crystals
66
Pumice
- Extrusive - Felsic - Vesicular - Glassy - Igneous rock
67
Rhyolite
- Extrusive - Felsic - Aphanitic - Non-vesicular - Igneous rock
68
Sandstone
A sedimentary rock composed of quartz and feldspar
69
Scoria
- Extrusive - Mafic - Glassy - Vesicular - Igneous rock
70
Shale
- Extrusive - Aphanitic - Clastic - Igneous rock
71
Shield Cone
- Have gentle slopes and have quiet eruption, not gassy - Hot mafic lava flows occur - Low viscosity - Much wider than they are tall
72
Silicate
The main mineral family group that makes up 90% of the the Earth’s minerals
73
Stratovolcano
Also known as a composite volcano, these volcanoes have layers made of different material, it erupts tephra and lava, made mostly of intermediate rock, and they have steep slopes
74
Streak
- The color of a powder of a mineral when scratched against an unglazed porcelain plate - Most have white streaks
75
Vesicular
A rock is this if there are air bubbles in it
76
Weathering
A way of breaking down and eroding away rocks and minerals to create fine grains
77
Why are igneous rocks important?
1) The oceanic and continental crust are the result of igneous processes at divergent and convergent margins 2) Our atmosphere is largely a product of igneous activity 3) Our climate can be affected by volcanic activity 4) Soils that form volcanic material may be especially fertile 5) Igneous rocks may be used as probes of the interior of the Earth
78
Intermediate composition
- Mostly plagioclase feldspar - Amphibole - Biotite
79
What is tephra
- Solid material falling to the ground after explosively erupted out of a volcano. It could be... a) Crystals that formed in the magma chamber feeding the volcano b) Pieces of the interior if the volcano broken off by rising magma c) Lava that solidified in mid-air
80
Volcanoes can produce...
- Lava - Tephra - Gasses - water vapor, carbon dioxide - Pyroclastic flows - Lahar mudflow
81
Pyroclastic flows
- Superheated clouds of gas, tephra, and other debris the flow down a volcano at a high velocity - Rises because it has a low density (it is really hot), when density is higher it will start falling, high velocity, picks up whatever is on the mountain
82
Two types of lava
Aa – viscous, splintery rocks | Pahoehoe – flows easily, smooth igneous rocks
83
Types of tephra
1) Ash (jagged, can cause respiratory problems, can get in engines, scratches windshield) 2) Lapilli – rock fragments between 2 and 64 mm in diameter 3) Volcanic blocks – solid rock fragment more than 64 mm in diameter 4) Volcanic bomb (64 mm +) molten or semi-molten blob of lava erupted, cools in flight

Earth Science (16 decks)

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