Rocks and Minerals

 (photo from: http://utahbottles.blogspot.com)

Rocks and Minerals

Rocks

Rocks are naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids. The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. The study or rocks is called petrology, which is an essential component in geology.

Three Major Groups of Rock

Igneous Rock - formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.

Granite

Obsidian

Pumice

Sedimentary Rock - formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water.

Coal

Limestone

Shale

Metamorphic Rock - arises from the transformation of the two other types of rocks in a process called metamorphism.

Marble

Slate

Quartzite

Minerals

Minerals are also naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through bio-geochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties.

Common Physical Properties of Minerals:

1. Crystal Structure and Habit - the orderly geometric spatial arrangement of atoms
2. Hardness - the physical hardness of a mineral
3. Luster - the way a mineral's surface interacts with light
4. Diaphaneity - describes how well light passes through a mineral
5. Color - indicates the appearance of the mineral in reflected light
6. Streak - refers to the color of the powder a mineral leaves
7. Cleavage - the way a mineral may split apart along various planes
8. Fracture - describes how a mineral breaks
9. Specific Gravity - relates the mineral mass to the density of the material.


Chemical Properties (Groups) of Minerals:


1. Silicate Class - by far, the largest group of minerals which are largely composed of silicon and oxygen.

Rose Quartz

Hornblende

Olivine

2. Carbonate Class - consist of minerals containing calcite and aragonite, dolomite, and siderite.

Marble

Limestone

Dolomite

3. Oxide Class - minerals in this class consist oxide anion is bounded to one or more metal ions.

Rutile

Corundum

4. Halide Class - the class which include these minerals with a dominant halide anion.

Halite

5. Sulfide and Sulfate Class - Sulfide consist pyrite and Sulfate consist of sulfate ion.

Pyrite

Galena

6. Natural Elements - includes native metals and intermetallic elements, semi-metals, and non-metals.

Gold

Copper

Graphite

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Checked by: Professor Crisencio M. Paner