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90 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What are minerals?
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inorganic crystalline substances found in the earth.
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What branch of geology is concerned with the study of minerals?
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mineralolgy
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What is the most common element in the earth's crust?
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oxygen
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What is a native element?
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a substance that exists naturally in the earth's crust as a single, uncombined element
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What are some examples of native elements?
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Gold, sulfur carbon (diamond, graphite), copper arsenic
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To what group of minerals does rock salt (NaCl) belong?
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halides
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What do all sulfide minerals have in common?
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They all contain the element sulfur
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What class of minerals contains the element oxygen bonded to a metallic element?
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oxides
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what do all carbonate minerals have in common?
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they contain the carbonate ion
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What is the largest group of minerals
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silicates
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What do all silicate minerals have in common?
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They all contain the elements silicon and oxygen.
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What are geometric structures composed of atoms or molecules arranged in repeating three-dimensional patterns?
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crystals
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What are the six categories of crystals based on their shape?
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Isometric, tetragonal, orthorhomic, monoclinic, triclinic, or hexagonal
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What two minerals are formed of carbon atoms arranged in different ways?
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graphite and diamond
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What is luster?
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The way light is reflected from the surface of a mineral
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What is the resistance of a mineral to being scratched?
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hardness
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A mineral such as calcite, which breaks readily along certain flat surfaces to produce fragments with the same shape as the original crystal, exhibits what property?
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Cleavage
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What is specific gravity?
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the ratio of an object's density to the density of water.
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When identifying minerals, why is the color of a mineral's streak more helpful than the mineral's surface color?
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The surface color of a mineral may vary, but it's streak color is always the same.
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What are some characteristics of a mineral that can be used to identify it?
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mineral shape, surface color, streak color, luster, hardness, type of cleavage or fracture, specific gravity, reactions wit acids, magnetism, taste, phosphorescence, fluorescence, radiation
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Are the surface color and streak color of a mineral always the same? Why or why not?
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No.
Several factors (such as impurities or tarnishing) can obscure the surface color of a mineral, but the streak color is unaffected by tarnish or impurities. |
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what scale is used to rate the hardness of minerals?
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Mohs scale
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According the mohs scale, what is the hardness of a diamond, the hardest mineral?
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10
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What is the tendency of a mineral to break readily along certain flat surfaces producing fragments with the same shape as the parent mineral?
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Cleavage
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What kind of fracture is exhibited by obsidian?
What does this mean? |
conchiodal (shell-like) fracture
When the mineral is broken, it shows a smoothly cured fracture resembling the inside of a clam shell. |
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What is the specific gravity of a mineral?
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the ratio of the mineral's density to the density of water.
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What is the specific gravity of a mineral?
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the ratio of the mineral's density to the density of water.
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What is the term for a mineral from which we can extract a valuable metallic element?
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ore
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What important metal is extracted from the mineral hematite?
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iron
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Steel is an alloy (mixture) of iron and what other substance?
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carbon
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What do we calls steel to which nickel or chromium has been added to prevent rust?
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stainless steel
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What is the most abundant metal in the earth's core?
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aluminum
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From what ore is aluminum most commonly extracted?
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Bauxite
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What reddish-orange metal, used to make electrical wires, is also familiar as a thin veneer on pennies?
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copper
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What two common metals are alloys of copper with zinc and tin, respectively?
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brass and bronze
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What is metal used to make radiation shielding, batteries, and small arms ammunition?
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lead
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What are precious metals?
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metals valued for their durability, rarity and beauty
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What are three precious metals mentioned in the text?
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gold, silver, platinum
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What precious metal has become even more valuable than gold or silver in the 20th century?
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platinum
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What is a precious stone?
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a mineral crystal prized for it's beauty, hardness, color, or "fire" (the way it reflects light)
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What precious stone is the hardest substance presently known to man?
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diamond
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in what geologic formations are diamonds commonly found?
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diamond pipes
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Ruby and sapphire are colored varieties of what common mineral?
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corundum (emery)
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Name two colored varieties of beryl and give the color of each
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emerald (green, aquamarine (blue or blue green)
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What is a semiprecious stone?
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A gem that is not a rare, as durable, or as esteemed as a precious stone
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Name three well-known semiprecious stones.
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Red, spinel, amethyst, zircon, tourmaline, opal laqis laquli, truquoise, chalcedony, jade, tsavorite, tanzanite.
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What fine-grained igneous rock has the same chemical composition as granite but a much finer texture?
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rhyolite
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what fine-grained igneous rock composes both the earth's crust beneath the oceans and the maria, or dark regions, of the moon's surface?
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basalt
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What is more abundant, rhyolite or basalt?
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basalt
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what term describes an igneous rock that has both coarse and fine grains?
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porphyritic rock
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What category of igneous rock has a smooth, glass-like texture and no visible crystals?
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amorphous igneous rock
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What amorphous igneous rock is also known as "volcanic glass"?
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obsidian
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what porous, lightweight igneous rock is often light enough to float in water?
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pumice
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What porous igneous rock is also known as volcanic slag?
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scoria
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what is the broad term for rocks formed from sediments?
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sedimentary rock
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what type of sedimentary rock is formed from fragments of other rocks?
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clastic sedimentary rock
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what is the most common sedimentary rock?
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shale
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Which type of sedimentary rock is known for its ability to be split into thin slabs or layers?
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shale
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What are fossils?
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the preserved remains of once-living creatures
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what type of sedimentary rock consists of grains of sand (quartz) cemented together?
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sandstone
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What type of clastic rock consists of smooth pebbles embedded in hardened sand or clay?
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conglomerate rock
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What do we call a rock similar to conglomerate rock that contains rough, angular fragments instead of smooth pebbles?
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brecca
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What is the general term for sediments that precipitate and settle out of a solution?
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chemical sediments
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what type of chemical sediments result from the evaporation of water?
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evaporates
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What are tho well-known evaporates mentioned in the text?
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Salt and gypsum
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what is a huge cylindrical column of salt deep underground that was apparently forced up through the rock layers from below?
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salt dome
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what are organic sediments?
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remains of once-living plants and animals
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What class of common organic sedimentary rocks consist largely of calcium carbonate?
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limestone
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What fine-textured, grainy limestone is formed from the skeletons of microscopic sea animals (plankton)?
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chalk
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What type of limestone is formed from chemical sediments that precipitate from seawater and collect on the ocean floor?
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oolitic limestone
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what type of "fossil Fuel" is sometimes considered an organic sedimentary rock?
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coal
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what are three three types of coal?
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anthracite coal, bituminous coal, lignite coal
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Which type of coal is the highest quality?
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anthracite
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Which type of coal is the lowest quality?
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lignite
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Which type of coal is most common?
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Bituminous
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what are concretions?
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hard, round structures that form when minerals settle out of water and crystallize upon a sand grain or some other mineral fragment
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What very hard rock is an example of concretion?
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flint
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In geology, what are strata?
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layers of sedimentary rock
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State the law of superposition.
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any undisturbed strata lie in sequence in the order they were laid down
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What category of rocks is produced when igneous or sedimentary rocks are altered by heat or pressure?
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metamorphic rocks
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What are the two general processes of metamorphism?
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contact metamorphism and regional metamorphism
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into what two broad categories are metamorphic rocks classified, based on their structure?
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Foliated rocks and unfoliated rocks
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What oliate rock is sometimes called metamorphosed shale?
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slate
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marble is an example of what type of metamorphic rock?
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unfoliated
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slate is an example of what type of metamorphic rock?
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foliated
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Which type of metamorphism occurs when rocks are altered by direct contact with hot magma?
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contact metamorphism
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If a metamorphic rock is composed of layers like the leaves of a book, is the rock said to be foliated or unfoliated?
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foliated
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True or False: Gneiss is classified as foliated metamorphic rock?
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true
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what foliated rock is sometimes called metamorphosed shale?
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slate
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What metamorphic rock is commonly formed when limestone or dolomite undergoes metamorphism?
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marble
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