Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Non-Silicates
Characteristics
Contain oxygen
& silicon
The most
abundant
group of
minerals
Examples
Quartz, mica
Make up only
5% of the
Earths crust
Include some of
the most
important
minerals
Carbonates
Carbon &
oxygen and a
positive ion,
such as calcium
Calcite (CaCO3)
Oxides
Hematite Fe2O3
Magnetite Fe3O4
Sulfides
Halides
Sulfur and a
metallic ion
Halogens
Pyrite (FeS2)
Galena (PbS)
Fluorite (CaF2)
Halite (NaCl)
Minerals are
grouped by
the
elements
they are
made of.
Emer
ald
Calci
te
Amet
hyst
Barite BaSo4
Physical Properties of Minerals
(can be used to identify the mineral)
Color
Can be misleading
Can vary with the type of impurities
Crystal form
external expression of a minerals internal orderly arrangement of
atoms.
Luster
Surface reflection
metallic = shiny like metal
nonmetallic = dull, non-shiny surface
Streak
Other Properties
Attraction to magnets
Bending of light
Reaction with hydrochloric acid
Obsidian is a dark-colored volcanic glass that forms from the very rapid cooling of
molten rock material. It cools so rapidly that crystals do not form. The specimen
shown above is about two inches (five centimeters) across.
Pegmatite is a light-colored, extremely coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock. It
forms near the margins of a magma chamber during the final phases of magma
chamber crystallization. It often contains rare minerals that are not found in other
parts of the magma chamber. The specimen shown above is about two inches (five
centimeters) across.
Peridotite is a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock that is composed almost
entirely of olivine. It may contain small amounts of amphibole, feldspar, quartz or
pyroxene. The specimen shown above is about two inches (five centimeters) across.
Pumice is a light-colored vesicular igneous rock. It forms through very rapid
solidification of a melt. The vesicular texture is a result of gas trapped in the melt at
the time of solidification. The specimen shown above is about two inches (five
centimeters) across.
Rhyolite is a light-colored, fine-grained, extrusive igneous rock that typically
contains quartz and feldspar minerals. The specimen shown above is about two
inches (five centimeters) across.
Scoria is a dark-colored, vesicular, extrusive igneous rock. The vesicles are a result
of trapped gas within the melt at the time of solidification. It often forms as a frothy
crust on the top of a lava flow or as material ejected from a volcanic vent and
solidifying while airborne. The specimen shown above is about two inches (five
centimeters) across.
Earths external process:
Weathering disintegration and decomposition of rock at or near Earths surface.
Mass wasting transfer of rock material downslope under the influence of gravity.
Erosion incorporation and transportation of material by a mobile agent usually
water, wind, or ice.
When rocks are exposed at the surface of Earth, they undergo weathering, in
which the day-in and day-out influences of the atmosphere slowly disintegrate and
decompose the rock. The resulting material is picked up, transported, and deposited
by various erosional agents gravity, running water, glaciers, wind, or waves.
Once this material, called sediment, is deposited, usually as horizontal beds in the
ocean, it undergoes lithification, a term meaning conversion into rock. Sediment
becomes lithified when it is compacted by the weight of overlying layers or when it
is cemented as percolating groundwater fills pore spaces in the sediment with
mineral matter. The result is sedimentary rock.
Breccia is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed of large (over two millimeter
diameter) angular fragments. The spaces between the large fragments can be filled
with a matrix of smaller particles or a mineral cement which binds the rock together.
The specimen shown above is about two inches (five centimeters) across.
Chert is a microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline sedimentary rock material composed
of silicon dioxide (SiO2). It occurs as nodules and concretionary masses and less
"baked" while near a heat source such as a magma chamber, sill or dike. The
specimen shown above is about two inches (five centimeters) across.
Marble is a nonfoliated metamorphic rock that is produced from the metamorphism
of limestone. It is composed primarily of calcium carbonate. The specimen shown
above is about two inches (five centimeters) across.
Phyllite is a foliated metamorphic rock that is made up mainly of very fine-grained
mica. The surface of phyllite is typically lustrous and sometimes wrinkled. It is
intermediate in grade between slate and schist. The specimen shown above is
about two inches (five centimeters across).
Quartzite is a nonfoliated metamorphic rock that is produced by the
metamorphism of sandstone. It is composed primarily of quartz. The specimen
above is about two inches (five centimeters) across.
Schist is metamorphic rock with well developed foliation. It often contains
significant amounts of mica which allow the rock to split into thin pieces. It is a rock
of intermediate metamorphic grade between phyllite and gneiss. The specimen
shown above is a "chlorite schist" because it contains a significant amount of
chlorite. It is about two inches (five centimeters) across.
Slate is a foliated metamorphic rock that is formed through the metamorphism of
shale. It is a low grade metamorphic rock that splits into thin pieces. The specimen
shown above is about two inches (five centimeters) across.
Once a rock is formed, does it stay the same rock forever?
Rocks are continually changed by many processes, such as
weathering, erosion, compaction, cementation, melting, and cooling.
Rocks can change to and from the three types.
What is the process through which rocks change?
The Rock Cycle
CHAPTER 2
Lesson:
Plate Tectonics: A Scientific
Revolution Unfolds
Pangaea approximately 200 million years ago
Mid-oceanic ridges
Convergent plate boundaries
Older portions of oceanic plates are returned to the mantle in these
destructive plate margins
Surface expression of the descending plate is an ocean trench
Also called subduction zones
Average angle of subduction = 45
Oceanic-continental convergence
Denser oceanic slab sinks into the asthenosphere
Along the descending plate partial melting of mantle rock
generates magma
Resulting volcanic mountain chain is called a continental
volcanic arc (Andes and Cascades)
Oceanic-continental convergence
Oceanic-oceanic
convergence
Trenches
Convergent plate boundaries
Continental-continental convergence
Continued subduction can bring two continents
together
Less dense, buoyant continental lithosphere does
not subduct
Resulting collision between two continental blocks
produces mountains (Himalayas, Alps,
Appalachians)
Continental-continental
convergence
Transform fault boundaries
Plates slide past one another and no new lithosphere is created or
destroyed
Transform faults
Transform faults
Plate motions
Important terms:
Seismology the study of earthquakes and seismic waves.
Seismograph an instrument that records earthquake waves.
Seismogram the record made by a seismograph.
Earthquake waves
Effects of Earthquake
Mohorovii discontinuity.
Discovering Earths Structure
Beno Gutenberg observed that P waves diminish and eventually die out
about 105 degrees around the globe from an earthquake. Then about 140
degrees away, the P waves reappear. The belt where P waves are absent
has been named the shadow zone.
Two important zones:
Stress: Shear
u Shear distorts a body by pushing parts of the body in opposite
directions.
Strain
u When stress is applied to rock, rock may deform. Any change in the
shape or volume of rock that results from stress is called strain.
Brittle deformation is the fracturing of an object once its strength is
exceeded.
u Ductile deformation is a type of solid state flow that produces a change
in the size and shape of an object without fracturing the object.
Fold
Monocline
Normal Fault
u Normal fault is a fault in which the hanging wall moves downward
relative to the footwall.
Reverse Fault
u Reverse fault forms when compression causes the hanging wall to move
upward relative to the footwall.
Thrust Fault
u Thrust fault is a special type of reverse fault in which the fault plane is
at a low angle or is nearly horizontal.
Strike-Slip Fault
u Strike-slip fault is a fault in which the movement is horizontal and
parallel to the trend, or strike, of the fault surface.
What is a mountain?
Mountains are spectacular features that often rise several hundred
meters or more above the surrounding terrain.
All mountain systems show evidence of enormous forces that have
folded, faulted, and generally deformed large sections of Earths
crust.
Mountain Building
Orogenesis is the collection of processes that result in the forming
of mountains.
Mountains are classified by the dominant processes that have
formed them.
Folded Mountains (formed by folding)