Earth Materials

The Planet
Earth
● The only habitable
planet in the solar
system
● Third planet from the
Sun
● Located about 1.0 AU
away from the Sun
● Rotation period = 24
hrs
● Revolution = 365 days,
6 hrs
 Layers
● Crust - varies in
thickness; mostly solid
rocks, landforms, and
soil
● Mantle - Composed of
partially molten rock;
source of magma
● Outer Core - Mostly
iron and nickel
● Inner Core - Mostly
iron; solidified
 Subsystems
● Geosphere - land
● Hydrosphere -
water
● Atmosphere - air
● Biosphere - life
 The
Geosphere
● Supplies raw
materials
● Gives the land
that we stand on
● The solid portion
of the earth
 The
Hydrosphere
● Composed of all
the water bodies
● Provides the
needed water of
organisms
● The solid state
(ice) is known as
the cryosphere
 The
Atmosphere
● Gives protection
from radiation
● Warms the surface
of the planet
● Gives weather
● Protection against
other materials
from outer space
Layers of the
Atmosphere
● Troposphere
● Stratosphere
● Mesosphere
● Thermosphere
(Ionosphere)
● Exosphere
The Biosphere
● All forms of life
found on earth
 Earth
Materials
● Rocks - naturally
occurring material
composed of minerals,
fragments of rocks, or
fossils
● Mineral - naturally
occuring inorganic
compound or element
● Fossil - traces of
organisms preserved in
rocks
 Types of
Rocks
● Igneous Rock
● Sedimentary Rock
● Metamorphic Rock
Igneous Rock
● Formed from a
crystallizing
magma
● Most common
composition are
quartz, feldspar,
or mica
 Sedimentary
Rock
● Made up of sediments or
fragments of rocks and
fossils
● Sediments are sorted
into grains of similar
size
● Water flows in between
the spaces and
recrystallizes
● Most common cementing
materials are quartz and
calcite
Metamorphic
Rock
● Rocks that undergo great
pressure
● The minerals are
recrystallized without
melting (metamorphism)
● Tough rock with
interlocking texture
● Mineral commonly found
within it is the garnet
The Rock Cycle
 Minerals
● Has a chemical formula
that varies in a limited
range
● There are 4,000 known
minerals
● Most minerals are
chemical compounds
● Some are elements in
mineral form (Au, Fe,
Pt, Cu and S)
 Properties of
Minerals
● Crystal Form
● Color
● Cleavage
● Striations
● Luster
● Transparency
● Double Refraction
 Important
Minerals
● Calcite
● Diamond
● Feldspar
● Garnet
● Gold
● Hematite
● Halite
● Galena
● Mica
● Quartz
 Crystals
● Solid substance with a
homogenous composition
● Geometrically
symmetrical atomic
structure
● An “infinitely repeating
array of 3-D boxes”
 Factors that
affect a Mineral
● Crystal structure
● Character of chemical
bonds within
crystalline substance
● The ability of
substances to split
along cleavage plane
Mineral Cleavage

The ability of crystalline materials to split along definite crystallographic

planes
 Crystal
Systems
● Cubic or Isometric
● Tetragonal
● Hexagonal or
Trigonal
● Orthorombic
● Monoclinic
● Triclinic
Cubic System
Tetragonal System
Hexagonal System
Orthorhombic System
Monoclinic System
Triclinic System