EXERCISE NO.

SOIL FORMATION:
WEATHERING OF ROCKS & MINERALS

Soil formation reveals the story of how rocks and dust become the ecstatic skin of
the earth. Minerals and rocks are the essential building materials of the earth. These are
weathered which have disintegrated through times by interrelated forces of climate,
topography/relief, time, and organisms to form soils. The decomposition products
precipitated and crystallized to form clay fractions, an active soil separate where most of
the nutrients are stored.

Minerals are naturally occurring substance with definite chemical composition

and specific physical properties. Soils that form from the same climate, organisms,
topography/relief, and time but differ in parent materials may differ in nutrients, in depth,
in amount of clay and in color. The mineral fraction is the major component of most soil
and an important determinant of soil properties. Soil in a general sense implies a
substance largely mineral in character. Thus, a study of minerals and rocks is a logical
first step in gaining understanding into the nature of soil.

A rock is defined as an aggregate of one or more minerals. They are classified as

igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic, depending on their origin, mineral composition
and texture.
The diagram below indicates the relationships between the three main classes of rocks:

IGNEOUS
ROCK

Fragmentation
Transportation High Pressure
Deposition High Temperature
Cementation

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS METAMORPHIC ROCKS

Soil particles are formed from weathering or decay of rocks. The hardest of rocks
subjected to the heat of the sun and the cold of the night and the beatings of the rain will
crumble to pieces. Rocks, however, decay very slowly and may take thousands of years
they may become soil.

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Rocks vary in degree of hardness and chemical composition. Also, climate

elements, like rainfall and temperature, vary remarkably from place to place. That is why
it’s affecting the decay of rocks. This is the reason why there are many different kinds of
soils produced.

The kind of the soil that will be developed depends upon the intensity of the
physical and biological forces that act on the parent materials or on the particles of
weathered rocks. The quality of the soil produced into clay will depend upon the parent
rock. As an example, rocks rich in essential minerals may produce fertile soil.

Objectives

1. To enumerate the physical and chemical properties/ characteristics of some

agriculturally important minerals and rocks; and

2. To study the role of minerals and rocks in soil formation and supply of plant
nutrients.

Materials

Mounted specimens of minerals and rocks; prepared slides of rock, and

petrographic microscope.

Procedure

A. Minerals

1. From the mounted specimen, determine the name of the minerals.

2. Observe the color of the different minerals given.

3. The other physical characteristics of the minerals such as hardness, streak,

cleavage/fracture and specific gravity will be given to you as your assignment
to be filled up in the report sheet.

4. Write the chemical components of each mineral given to you by your

respective laboratory instructor. For the rocks, provide the mineralogical
composition.

5. Research more minerals/rocks from the internet which are not found in the
mounted specimen.

B. . Rocks

1. From the mounted specimen, determine which are the rocks and which are the
minerals.

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2. Determine the properties of the rocks observed. Please refer to the report
sheet.

C. Using Petrographic Microscope

1. The instructor will provide different prepared slides of rock to be viewed

under petrographic microscope.
2. Draw the rocks on the space provided.

REPORT SHEET

Soil Formation: Weathering of Rocks and Minerals

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Name:___________________________________________ Score__________________
Laboratory Schedule_____________ Group No._____________ Date_____________

Minerals

Name of Chemical Hardness Grouping Color Cleavage/ Streak Soil

Mineral Composition Fracture Nutrien
s t
Element

Rocks

Rock Classification* Mineral Present Color When it

Turned to Soil

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*Classification will be done using the following:

If it is igneous:
 Intrusive (plutonic)
 Extrusive (volcanic)

If Sedimentary:

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 Clastic
 Precipitates

If Metamorphic, determine the pre-existing classification of rock as either:

 Igneous
 Sedimentary
 Metamorphic

Rocks under Petrographic Microscope

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Questions to Answer

1. Compare the following rocks/Minerals:

Rocks/Minerals Chemical/Mineralogical Mode of Origin/ Classes of

Composition Classification Rocks

Anorthite vs. Albite

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Hornblende vs.

Augite

Calcite vs. Dolomite

Hematite vs.

Limonite

Muscovite vs.

Biotite

Granite vs. Rhyolite

Diorite vs. Andesite

Gabbro vs. Basalt

Conglomerate vs.

Breccia

Granite vs. Gneiss

Basalt vs. Schist

Sandstone vs.

Quartzite

Limestone vs.

Marble

Shale vs. Slate

Conglomerate vs.

Meta-conglomerate

2. List minerals as source of important plant nutrients:

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Nutrient Element Name of Minerals

Nitrogen

Phosphorus

Potassium

Calcium

Magnesium

Sulfur

Boron

Zinc

Iron

Molybdenum

Copper

3. Assuming the same grain (texture), which among the two will weather faster,
acidic or basic igneous rock? Why?

4. Is it possible for the rock to be derived from clay? How? (Hint: Read diagnesis)

5. State management of the problems in the resulting soil developed from

sandstone?

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CONCLUSION

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