MODULE IN SCI 109 – EARTH SCIENCE

LESSON 1: EARTH MATERIALS AND PROCESSES

ELEMENTS IN THE EARTH’S CRUST

The crust is the thinnest and the outermost layer of the Earth that extends from the
surface to about 32 kilometers below. Underneath some mountains, the crust’s thickness
extends to 72 kilometers. The two types of crust are continental and oceanic crust.
The continental crust is mainly made up of silicon, oxygen, aluminum, calcium,
sodium, and potassium. The thickness of the continental crust is mostly 35-40 kilometers.
Continental crust, found under land masses, is made of less dense rocks such as granite. The
oceanic crust is around 7-10 kilometers thick which its average thickness is 8 kilometers. It is
found under the ocean floor and is made of dense rocks such as basalt.
The oceanic crust is heavier than the continental crust. The crust consists of two layers.
The upper layer is composed of granite and is only found in the continental crust. Below the
granite is a layer made mainly of basalt. This is found on both under the continents and the
oceans.
The graph below shows the different elements that compose the Earth’s crust.

Earth materials include minerals, rocks, soil and water. These are the naturally
occurring materials found on Earth that constitute the raw materials upon which our global
society exists. Earth materials are vital resources that provide the basic components for life,
agriculture and industry.
Have you seen rocks close enough to ever wonder what they are made of? Because,
believe it or not, the rocks that you see are actually made up of crystalline materials we call
minerals.

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MINERALS
Take a look at the things you see every day. What items do you think are considered minerals?
To put simply: A mineral is a naturally-occurring, inorganic, homogenous solid with
definite chemical composition and ordered crystalline structure.

1. A mineral is Naturally-Occuring
A mineral should be naturally-occurring with respect to its formation. It should be made
by natural process without any aid of organism. In case of the laboratory studies, any material
that is formed in laboratories or artificial conditions is not considered as a mineral.
2. A mineral is Inorganic
The process to produce a mineral by natural means is extended further by making sure
that no organic materials (or once was part of an organism) be considered as a mineral. This
would mean that bones, shells, teeth, and other hard parts of an organism are not minerals.
3. A mineral is a homogenous solid
A mineral is homogenous sold with uniform appearance and is in solid state of matter.
4. A mineral has a definite chemical composition
A mineral always contains certain elements in definite proportions. For example, the
mineral of quartz has one atom of silicon for every two atoms of oxygen. Some minerals are
made up of one element: gold, silver, copper.
5. A mineral has an ordered crystalline/internal structure
A crystalline material is something that has its elemental components arranged in an
ordered fashion. This means that the material repeats this order in a 3D framework that can
extend virtually into infinity.

MINERALOID
Any material which passes most of the criteria (but not all) we have set can be
considered as a mineraloid. Examples would be volcanic glass and opal.

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MINERAL PROPERTIES
1. COLOR
The most obvious property of a mineral, its color, is unfortunately also the least
diagnostic (a mineral will only exhibit a single color regardless of where it came from). In the
same way that a headache is a symptom for a whole host of problems from the flu to a head
injury, many minerals share the same color. For example, several minerals are green in color –
olivine, epidote, and actinolite, just to name a few. On the other extreme, one mineral can take
on several different colors if there are impurities in the chemical composition, such as quartz,
which can be clear, smoky, pink, purple, or yellow.
Part of the reason that the color of minerals is not uniquely diagnostic is that there are
several components of the crystal compositions and structure that can produce color. The
presence of some elements, such as iron, always results in a colored mineral, but iron can
produce a wide variety of colors depending on its state of oxidation – black, red, or green, most
commonly. Some minerals have color-producing elements in their crystal structure, like olivine
(Fe2SiO4), while others incorporate them as impurities, like quartz (SiO2). All of this variability
makes it difficult to solely use color to identify a mineral. However, in combination with other
properties such as crystal form, color can help narrow the possibilities. As an example,
hornblende, biotite, and muscovite are all very commonly found in rocks such as granite.
Hornblende and biotite are both black, but they can be easily distinguished by their crystal form
because biotite occurs in sheets, while hornblende forms stout prisms (Figure 1). Muscovite
and biotite both form in sheets, but they are different colors – muscovite is colorless, in fact.

Figure 1: These three minerals can be distinguished using both color and form. Hornblende (left) and biotite
(middle) share the same color, but are different forms; muscovite (right) and biotite share form but not color.

2. STREAK
Streak refers to the color of the mineral in its powdered form, which may or may not
be the same color as the mineral. Streak is helpful for identifying minerals with metallic or
earthy luster, because (with a few exceptions) minerals with nonmetallic luster generally have
a colorless or white streak that is not diagnostic, Streak is obtained by scratching the mineral
on an unpolished piece of white porcelain called a streak plate (Figure 3). Because the streak
plate is harder than most minerals, rubbing the mineral across the plate produces a powder of
that mineral. When the excess powder is blown away, what remains is the color of the streak.
Because the streak of a mineral is usually the same, no matter what the color of the mineral,
streak is commonly more reliable than color for identification.

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3. LUSTER
Luster describes the appearance of a mineral when light is reflected from its surface. Is
it shiny or dull: does it look like a metal or like glass? Generally the first thing you notice when
identifying an unknown sample is the mineral’s luster. Important examples of mineral luster
are shown in Figure 4 below.

Minerals with a metallic luster look like a metal, such as steel or copper. They are both
shiny and opaque, even when looking at a thin edge. Many metallic minerals become dull or
earthy when they are exposed to the elements for a long time (like silver, they tarnish). To
determine whether or not a mineral has a metallic luster, therefore, you must look at a recently
broken part of the mineral.
Minerals with an earthy luster look like earth, or dirt. Like metallic minerals these are
completely opaque, but dull. Again, think of rust on iron or tarnish that forms on precious
metals.
Vitreous luster- is like that of glass, shiny and translucent to transparent. Remember
that glass can be almost any color, including black, so don't be fooled by the color. Also, a dark
piece of glass may appear to be opaque if it is thick enough. If you hold a thin edge up to the
light you should be able to see light bleeding through.
Minerals with a waxy luster look like paraffin, typically translucent but dull. while
minerals with pearly luster have an appearance similar to a pearl or the inside of an abalone
shell – translucent and shiny but with a bit of light refraction, producing a rainbow effect on
the surface (similar to an oil slick).

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4. HARDNESS
Hardness is the resistance of a mineral to scratching or abrasion by other materials.
Hardness is determined by scratching the surface of the sample with another mineral or material
of known hardness. The standard hardness scale, called Moh’s Hardness Scale (Table 2),
consists of ten minerals ranked in ascending order of hardness with diamond, the hardest known
substance, assigned
the number 10. The
hardness kits we use
in class contain only
minerals 2-7, as
these are the most
useful for testing
most of the minerals
we will encounter in
this class. Since most
of us don’t wander
the outdoors with a
pocketful of standard
minerals table one
also lists the relative
hardness of other
common items.
The Mohs scale was developed by Friedrich Mohs in 1822 as a diagnostic tool. One
measure of absolute hardness is an indentation test in which a diamond-tipped tool is impressed
into a sample with a fixed amount of pressure and the depth of the resulting groove is measured.
Figure 5 shows a graph comparing this numerical hardness (called the Knoop hardness) to
Mohs hardness.

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5. CLEAVAGE AND FRACTURE
The way in which a mineral breaks is determined by the arrangement of its atoms and
the strength of the chemical bonds holding them together. Because these properties are unique
to the mineral, careful observation of broken surfaces may aid in mineral identification. A
mineral that exhibits cleavage consistently breaks, or cleaves, along parallel flat surfaces called
cleavage planes. A mineral fractures if it breaks along random, irregular surfaces. Some
minerals break only by fracturing, while others both cleave and fracture.

The mineral halite (NaCl, or sodium chloride) illustrates how atomic arrangement
determines the way a mineral breaks. Figure 6 shows the arrangement of sodium and chlorine
atoms in halite. Notice that there are planes with atoms and planes without atoms. When halite
breaks, it breaks parallel to the planes with atoms but along the planes without atoms. Because
there are three directions in which atom density is equal, halite has three directions of cleavage,
each at 90° to each other. The number of cleavage directions and the angles between them are
important in mineral identification because they reflect the underlying atomic architecture that
defines each mineral.

6. OTHER PROPERTIES
Special properties help identify some minerals. These properties may not be distinctive
enough in most minerals to help with their identification. or they may be present only in certain
minerals.
A. Magnetism. Some minerals are attracted to a hand magnet. To test a mineral for
magnetism, just put the magnet and mineral together and see if they are attracted.
Magnetite is the only common mineral that is always strongly magnetic.
B. Taste. Some minerals have a distinctive taste (halite is salt, and tastes like it). Halite is
similar to your table salt, only naturally produced.
C. Odor. Certain minerals give off distinct smell similar to some spices (e.g. garlic) or
industrial materials (e.g. fireworks).The powder of some sulfide minerals, such as
sphalerite, a zinc sulfide, smells like rotten eggs.
D. Reaction with Acid. Some minerals, especially carbonate minerals, react visibly with
acid. (Usually, a dilute hydrochloric acid [HCl] is used.) When a drop of dilute
hydrochloric acid is placed on calcite, it readily bubbles or effervesces, releasing carbon
dioxide.

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CHEMISTRY IN MINERAL FORMATION

Why study the chemistry of minerals? Minerals are made of atoms, which have an
impact on the behavior and characteristics of the mineral. Thus, to understand, explain, and
predict the behavior of minerals, and rocks—which are made of minerals—we must understand
some basic facts about atoms and how they behave. This requires a basic understanding of
some chemistry. We will begin by constructing atoms in our thinking in terms of the three sub-
atomic particles of which atoms are made.

Figure 1. Elements, such as helium, depicted here, are made up of atoms. Atoms are made up of
protons and neutrons located within the nucleus, with electrons in orbitals surrounding the nucleus.

Atoms consist of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Protons have a positive (+) electrical
charge. Electrons have a negative (−) charge that is exactly equal and opposite to the electrical
charge of a proton. Neutrons are electrically neutral.

Minerals form as a result of chemical reactions. Chemical reactions are driven mainly
by the arrangement and rearrangement of electrons in atoms. In a mineral, the atoms are held
together by chemical bonds, which derive from the electrons.
If atoms interact with other atoms, they can gain or lose electrons to the other atoms, or
share electrons with other atoms. In an individual atom, the most stable arrangement is a full
outer shell of electrons. Therefore, chemical reactions will occur, and chemical bonds will form
that hold atoms together to each other, when atoms encounter other atoms and change their
electron configurations toward more stable, lower-energy arrangements, which generally
involves achieving full outer electron shells in the atoms.

FORMATION OF MINERAL DEPOSITS

Minerals can form by any of the following processes:
 Precipitation from a fluid like H2O or CO2. This can take place within the Earth by
hydrothermal processes, diagenesis, and metamorphism, and at or near the Earth's
surface as a result of evaporation, weathering, or biological activity.

 Sublimation from a vapor. This process is somewhat more rare, but can take place at
a volcanic vent, or deep in space where the pressure is near vacuum.

 Crystallization from a liquid. This takes place during crystallization of molten rock
(magma) either below or at the Earth's surface.

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  Solid - Solid reactions. This process involves minerals reacting with other minerals in
the solid state to produce one or more new minerals. Such processes take place
during metamorphism and diagenesis due to changing temperature and pressure
conditions.

No matter what process is involved, a particular mineral cannot form unless the
chemical ingredients necessary to make the mineral are present. Thus, the most common
minerals are minerals that have a chemical composition made of the common elements found
in their environment. Since the environment where most observable minerals occur is the
Earth's crust, we must first explore the chemical composition of the Earth's crust.

USES, HAZARDS, AND CONSERVATION OF MINERALS

The construction industry is the largest consumer of mineral

commodities. Crushed stone is used for foundations, road base, concrete,
and drainage. Sand and gravel are used in concrete and foundations. Clays
are used to make cement, bricks, and tile. Iron ore is used to make
reinforcing rods, steel beams, nails, and wire. Gypsum is used to make
drywall. Dimension stone is used for facing, curbing, flooring, stair treads,
and other architectural work. These are just a few of the many uses for these
commodities in construction.

In agriculture, phosphate rock and potash are used to make fertilizer. Lime
is used as an acid-neutralizing soil treatment. Mineral nutrients are added
to animal feed.

The chemical industry uses large amounts of salt, lime, and soda ash. Large amounts of metals,
clay, and mineral fillers/extenders are used in manufacturing.

Mineral resources are essential to our modern industrial society and they are used
everywhere. For example, at breakfast you drink some juice in a glass (made from melted
quartz sand), eat from a ceramic plate (created from clay minerals heated at high temperatures),
sprinkle salt (halite) on your eggs, use steel utensils (from iron ore and other minerals), read a
magazine (coated with up to 50% kaolinite clay to give the glossy look), and answer your
cellphone (containing over 40 different minerals including copper, silver, gold, and platinum).
We need minerals to make cars, computers, appliances, concrete roads, houses, tractors,
fertilizer, electrical transmission lines, and jewelry. Without mineral resources, industry would
collapse and living standards would plummet. In 2010, the average person in the U.S.
consumed more than16,000 pounds of mineral resources. With an average life expectancy of
78 years, that translates to about1.3 million pounds of mineral resources over such a person’s
lifetime. Here are a few statistics that help to explain these large values of mineral use: an
average American house contains about 250,000 pounds of, one mile of Interstate highway
uses 170 million pounds of earth materials, and the U.S. has nearly 4 million miles of roads.
All of these mineral resources are nonrenewable, because nature usually takes hundreds of
thousands to millions of years to produce mineral deposits.

Early hominids used rocks as simple tools as early as 2.6 million years ago. At least
500,000 years ago prehistoric people used flint (fine-grained quartz) for knives and

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arrowheads. Other important early uses of minerals include mineral pigments such as
manganese oxides and iron oxides for art, salt for food preservation, stone for pyramids, and
metals such as bronze (typically tin and copper), which is stronger than pure copper and iron
for steel, which is stronger than bronze.

Mining: In 2004, mining sites contributed 52

percent of all hazardous waste sites located
on, or next to, Tribal Lands. The commodities
mined from these sites include, but are not
limited to, gold, coal, sand and gravel,
uranium, copper, and lead. Mining minerals
from the earth requires three processes:
extraction, beneficiation, and processing.
Extraction is the removal of the ore from the
earth. Beneficiation follows extraction and
involves working the ore into a more useable
form. Finally, mineral processing removes the
desired mineral from the remaining ore. The extraction and beneficiation processes produce
large quantities of waste; however, the mineral processing phase generally produces most of
the hazardous waste. Mine wastes are generally stored in heaps or mounds and in tailings
ponds.

Mining wastes pose a threat to communities in several ways. Leachate from tailings,
acid drainage, and oxidization of heavy metals can be transported by surface runoff to streams
and lakes or possibly contaminate the aquifer, thus contaminating human drinking water or
harming aquatic life. Contaminated soil from heaps is often transported by wind and deposited
to surrounding areas including residential property, public parks, surface water, etc.

Because demand for new minerals will likely increase in the future, we must continue
to search for new minerals, even though we probably have already found many of the “easy”
targets, i.e., high-grade ore deposits close to the surface and in convenient locations. To find
more difficult ore targets, we will need to apply many technologies including geophysical
methods (seismic, gravity, magnetic, and electrical measurements, as well as remote sensing,
which uses satellite-based measurements of electromagnetic radiation from Earth’s surface),
geochemical methods (looking for chemical enrichments in soil, water, air, and plants), and
geological information including knowledge of plate tectonics theory. We also may need to
consider exploring and mining unconventional areas such as continental margins (submerged
edges of continents), the ocean floor (where there are large deposits of manganese ore and other
metals in rocks called manganese nodules), and oceanic ridges (undersea mountains that have
copper, zinc, and lead ore bodies).

Finally, we need to explore for, mine, and process new minerals while minimizing pollution
and other environmental impacts. Regulations and good engineering practices are necessary to
ensure adequate mine reclamation and pollution reduction, including acid mine drainage. The
emerging field of biotechnology may provide some sustainable solutions to metal extraction.
Specific methods include biooxidation (microbial enrichment of metals in a solid
phase), bioleaching (microbial dissolution of metals), biosorption (attachment of metals to
cells), and genetic engineering of microbes (creating microorganisms specialized in
extracting metal from ore).

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 SCI 109 – EARTH SCIENCE
LESSON 1: EARTH MATERIALS AND PROCESSES

Option A: You may type your answer on Microsoft Word but just send me a screenshot of it,
not the file. Send it through my personal FB account: Ellen Mae Palomar
Option B: You may write using your pen and paper. Take a clear picture of your answer and
send the picture through my personal FB account: Ellen Mae Palomar
Sample Format:

Name: Ellen Mae P. Delos Santos Section: BSED 1B Date: Oct. 15, 2020
Lesson 1: Earth Materials and Processes

Activity:
I.
1. A
2. A
3. A.
4. A
5. A

Evaluation:
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askdnajdqwjda candajdnanwejdjlas ancjadnahasn qjdkajdaid anxoiadjjasnx joasncahd
ioajdas asd asdjkdjad adkasd as dasd asdjajd adsas djas dpaiepiwieuwfsd casojcasjiofjsojc
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Activity:
I. Multiple Choice: Identify the letter of the best answer.
1. Which of the following physical properties is likely to be most useful in identifying a
mineral? (Note: although they are all potentially useful, choose the one you think is most
consistently useful.)
a. color b. luster c. hardness d. crystal form
2. Why isn't color alone very useful in mineral identification?
a. Many minerals have the same color.
b. One mineral can have many different colors.
c. The presence of one element can cause many colors.
d. all of the answers
3. You encounter a clear mineral in a vein within a rock, which your instructor tells you is
either quartz, calcite, or gypsum. You can scratch it with your pocketknife, but not your
fingernail. Which is it?
a. gypsum b. calcite c. quartz d. gold
4. A mineral is inorganic, which means that it contains
a. compounds. b. materials made by humans.
c. parts of living things. d. no materials that were once part of living things.
5. If you broke a mineral into tiny pieces, each piece would
a. still show the same crystal structure. b. have the same shape.
c. be roughly the same size. d. be metallic.

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Evaluation: Essay (2 paragraphs)
1. As an individual, what is your stand in the mining industry in our region/country?

Additional Readings:
First-step analysis: mining in Philippines. Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia.
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=ee691d7a-6ea5-499b-98da-675a36290e18
The future of small-scale gold mining in the Philippines. Scarlett Evans. https://www.mining-
technology.com/features/the-future-of-small-scale-gold-mining-in-the-philippines/
References:
Books
Refran, et al (2016) Earth Science.Quezon City, Philippines. Vibal Group Inc. pp. 20-28
Seeds, M.A. & Backman, D. (2016) Earth Science. Manila, Phillipines. Rex Bookstore, Inc. pp. 109-142
Website
GEOLOGY LABORATORY: MINERAL PROPERTIES.
https://www.saddleback.edu/faculty/jrepka/notes/GEOmineralLAB_1.pdf 7/14/2020
Chemistry of Minerals https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-geology/chapter/outcome-chemistry-of-
minerals/#:~:text=Minerals%20form%20as%20a%20result,which%20derive% 20from%20the%20electrons.

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