Topic 11 – Rocks and Minerals

Vocabulary
Cleavage – the way a mineral breaks along a plane of weakness
Contact metamorphism – the hanging of older rock by the intrusion of magma, burns existing
rock
Extrusive igneous rock – igneous rock formed on the surface of the Earth from cooling lava
Foliation – the alignment of minerals in a metamorphic rock
Fracture – the irregular breaking of a mineral
Hardness – the ability of a mineral to scratch another mineral, soft minerals can’t scratch
harder minerals
Igneous rock – rock from melted material in Earth
Intrusive igneous rock – igneous rocks formed underground from cooling magma
Lava – liquid rock material on Earth’s surface
Luster – the way a mineral shines reflected light, metallic or non-metallic is one example
Magma – liquid melted rock material beneath Earth’s surface
Metamorphic rock – rack that forms by altering previously existing rock
Mineral – naturally occurring crystalline solid having definite chemical composition with
specific identifying properties
Precipitation (mineral) – dissolved minerals come out of solution to form solids
Regional metamorphism – process of forming metamorphic rock over a large region, such as a
mountain range4 from heat and pressure
Rock cycle – a model to show relationships of rock formation
Sedimentary rocks – rocks that form directly from sediments
Streak – the color of the powered form of a mineral scratched on a porcelain plate
Texture – size shape and arrangement of mineral crystal and the sediments that make up a rock

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Overview of Topic

I. Minerals
a. Occur naturally
b. Crystal structure
The crystal structure give a mineral its distinct properties. Each mineral type has
its own properties.

Atomic Structure Crystal Shape Cleavage Structure

c. Minerals make rocks

1. All rocks are made of minerals

d. Occur in Earth’s Crust

1. Page1 of the ESRT shows elements in Earth’s crust
- Oxygen (O) and Silicon (Si) are the most abundant elements by
mass in the lithosphere
- Silicates, the combination of SiO, is the most abundant mineral on
Earth, see page 16 of the ESRT under the column “composition”
2. 2000 + minerals on Earth

e. Internal arrangement of atoms (crystal structure) determines the minerals

properties
- Very important to know this. Mineral identification is based on
the arrangement of the atoms. Both diamond and graphite are
made of the element carbon (C), because of the different way the
atoms are arranged make diamond the hardest substance while
graphite is one of the softest.

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f. Mineral Identification - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7wJP_K_sAQ

- There several properties used to identify minerals. The following

you need to know. These are the best.

1. Streak – The color of the mineral scratched on a porcelain tile

The streak is the true color.

The color, appearance of the
mineral can be many colors,
the streak is the same color
due to the arrangement of
the atoms.

2. Hardness – The ability for a mineral to scratch another. Based on a

scale of 1 – 10 (Mohs hardness scale).

Hardness of minerals is
based on common objects.
Glass is one of the most
useful to determine
hardness. This is due to
the arrangement of atoms.

3. Cleavage – The way a mineral breaks evenly along planes of

weakness. The broken pieces look identical to the original piece.

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 Cleavage can occur in several
directions, notice the break
is clean. Due to the internal
arrangement of atoms.

4. Fracture – The way a mineral breaks that is not even. The pieces are
random and look jagged. Think of broken glass.

Fracture is random
breaking. Notice it is not a
clean break, but jagged.
Due to arrangement of
atoms.

5. Luster – The mineral looks like metal. Page 16 breaks up into metal
and non-metal in the left column

6. Effervesces – Bubbles with hydrochloric acid (HCl)

Calcite (CaCO3) easily bubbles with acid. Calcite is the major

mineral that makes the sedimentary rock limestone and the
metamorphic rock marble. They will bubble with acid.

* Mineral identification is tested in Part D the lab practical as well as the written
examination.
II. Rock Types
- All rocks are made of minerals

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 o Polymineralic – made of many minerals (most rocks)
o Monomineralic – made of one mineral (very few rocks)

- 3 types of rock
o Igneous
o Metamorphic
o Sedimentary

a. Igneous - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCnAF1Opt8M

- Page 6 ESRT – Scheme for Igneous Rock Identification

- All igneous rocks have interlocking crystals
1. Made from melted material
 Magma – rock material solidifies underground
 Lava – rock material solidifies on the surface

2. Environment of formation
 Extrusive (volcanic) – formed on the surface due to fast
cooling, crystals are small (less than a millimeter to
microscopic)
o Characterized by minerals as fine, glassy and / or
vesicular (gas pockets)
o contain one the following characteristics:
 Glassy
 Glassy vesicular
 Fine texture
 Fine texture vesicular

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  Intrusive (plutonic) – formed underground due to slow
cooling, crystal are large (1 millimeter and larger)
o Characterized by minerals as coarse and very coarse
o contain one the following characteristics:
 coarse crystals 1 – 10 mm
 very coarse crystals > 10 mm
 crystals can easily be seen with your eye

Glassy Gas pockets

EXTRUSIVE
(VOLCANIC)
Fine

Coarse Very coarse

INTRUSIVE
(PLUTONIC)

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b. Metamorphic – changed rock - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oQ1J0w3x0o

- Page 7 ESRT – Scheme for Metamorphic Rock Identification

1. Formation
i. Contact metamorphism
o When magma or lava burns already existing rock

As the intruded magma burns the

surrounding rock material it is altered.
Notice that the existing rock type is altered
into a different metamorphic rock type.

The area is localized and the altered rock is

due to heat.

ii. Regional metamorphism

o When plates collide pressure increase, which increase
the temperature which alters the bedrock

As plates squeeze together it alters rock

with pressure and heat. The more intense
the pressure and heat, the more altered the
rock.

Shale is metamorphosed from least intense

to most intense.

Least Most

Shale  slate phyllite  schist  gneiss

- 2 textures
o Foliated
 Mineral alignment
 Minerals line up in a common direction due to heating

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  Look like scales in a fish, they line up
 Often shiny and may contain garnet crystals
 Least intense form of foliation

 Banding
 Minerals line up in a common direction and by similar mineral
type
 Look stripped
 Most intense form of foliation

o Non-foliated
 Minerals look like melted sugar, or snow crystals that begin to melt;
not liquid
 Hard to identity
 Marble and quartzite are examples

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c. Sedimentary – make from sediment, layers -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etu9BWbuDlY

- Page 7 ESRT
- Easy to identify
1. Formation – almost always in water
 Cementation of particles such as sand, silt, clay and cobbles
react with dissolved materials in the water to form cement.
 Compaction of the material from more layers on top
“squeeze” the layers on the bottom making the particle
contact each other.
 Chemical action. Water contains dissolved minerals. As the
water evaporates minerals are left behind (evaporates). In
some cases the dissolved minerals precipitate, drop out of
solution, to form a layer (precipitates).
 Organic processes. When minerals are removed from water by
living organisms, such as clams, oysters, coral and plants are
needed to build structures the process is considered organic.
When these organisms due the remains are cemented
together to form rock.

2. Characteristics
 Clastic – rocks made from particles of other rock or sediment
 Bioclastic – rocks made from remains of shells or plants
 Crystalline – evaporates and precipitates, they don’t have
grains, but crystals that formed together

3. Identification
 Page 7 ESRT – Scheme for Sedimentary Rock Identification
 Look at the rains and determine size
 Sedimentary rocks are boring in appearance, dull
 Some sedimentary rocks contain fossils
 Fossils are only found in sedimentary rocks

*NOTE: You must be able to identify rocks on Part D the lab practical.

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III. Rock Cycle
- Page 6 ESRT

- General overview of how rocks are formed on Earth.

- Rock formation is cycled between on type of rock to another via
Earth processes.

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 Earth Science Reference Table – (ESRT)
Pages from ESRT used in Topic 11.

Page 1, 6, 7 and 16

AKA – Lithosphere
Page 1

- What is necessary to know is the crust (lithosphere) is broken in to two columns: percent by mass
and percent by volume.
- These represent the most abundant mineral forming elements in the crust

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Page 6 and 7
Scheme for Igneous Rock Identification
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGQeJL1izBE

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Scheme for Sedimentary Rock Identification
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWQLmGu8fSg
This order is a general overview of how to identify based on a set of criteria given.

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Scheme for Identifying Metamorphic Rocks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2U5TUux-cQ

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Page 16 Properties of Common Minerals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlsG2C5ttJc
This is not the best chart to use to identify minerals. It is good for finding properties about
minerals.
To use it for Identification start at the left column and ask a series of questions:
1) LUSTER metallic or non metallic?
2) HARDNESS – here it has a range. I like reference glass which is about 5.5 hardness.
Does the mineral scrath glass?
3) CLEAVAGE or FRACTURE how does it break
4) DISTIGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS what is something that is easy identifiable in the
mineral.

We will use another chart for the lab practical of the exam which is much more relable and esier to
identify minerlas with.

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