1. ROCKS & MINERALS

2. Properties of Minerals

3. mineral – naturally occurring, inorganic solid that has a crystal structure and a definite chemical composition

4. Minerals must have the following FIVE characteristics:
1. Must be formed by processes that occur in the natural world 2. Must be inorganic, meaning that it cannot come from materials that were once part of a living thing 3. A solid – with definite shape and definite volume 4. Particles that make it up line up in a repeating pattern which form a crystal 5. Has a definite chemical composition or range of compositions

5. Each mineral has certain characteristics that help identify it:
Color – used to identify a few minerals that have their own characteristic coloring
Streak – color of a mineral’s powder
Luster – how light is reflected from a mineral’s surface
Density – each mineral has a characteristic density (d=m/v)
Cleavage – if a mineral breaks easily along flat surfaces
Fracture – when a mineral breaks apart in an irregular way

6. Mineral characteristics cont.
Hardness – using the Mohs hardness scale, this scale ranks ten minerals from softest to hardest
Crystal system – crystals grow atom by atom to form a particular structure – these structures are grouped into six different categories based on the number and angle of the crystal faces

7. Special properties can also be used such as magnetism and ability to glow under an ultraviolet light.

8. Mineral Formation & Resources

9. Geode
rounded, hollow rock that is often lined with mineral crystals

10. Crystallization
process by which atoms are arranged to form a material with a crystal structure

11. Minerals can form two ways:
1. Crystallization of magma and lava – minerals form as hot magma cools inside the crust, or as lava hardens on the surface. When these liquids cool to a solid state, they form crystals. 2. Crystallization of materials dissolved in water – when elements and compounds that are dissolved in water leave a solution (mixture in which one substance in dissolved in another), crystallization occurs.

13. quartz vein, prominent from the surrounding weathered rock
Some minerals form when pure metals that crystallize from hot water solutions underground often form veins, or a narrow channel or slab mineral that is different from the surrounding rock
quartz vein, prominent from the surrounding weathered rock

14. Minerals are the source of a variety of materials used to make many products.
gemstone – hard, colorful mineral that has a brilliant or glassy luster; once cut and polished it is called a gem
metals – minerals are the source of metals such as aluminum, iron, copper or silver
ore – a rock that contains a metal or other useful mineral that can be mined and sold at profit

15. To produce metal from a mineral:
1. Rocks containing minerals must be located through prospecting 2. Ore deposits are removed from ground through mining 3. Rock is processed by smelting to produce metals
A worker operates a manufacture mixer with fused aluminum at the foundry shop of aluminum smelter plant in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk February 3, REUTERS/ILYA NAYMUSHIN/FILES

16. Classifying Rocks

17. Geologists look at the mineral composition, color and texture of a rock, which can contain a mixture of minerals and other materials or only a single mineral.

18. Color – provides clues to the rock’s mineral composition
granite – light colored rock having high silica content
basalt – dark colored rock that is low in silica
Texture – the look and feel of the rock’s surface which is made up of particles of minerals or other fine rocks called grains
Grain size
Grain shape
Grain pattern

19. Geologists classify rocks into three major rock groups based on how they form: Igneous Sedimentary Metamorphic

20. Igneous Rock
created when magma or lava cools and crystallizes

21. Sedimentary Rock
rock material that forms where rocks are broken down into smaller pieces or dissolved in water as rocks erode or the remains of plants and animals are pressed and cemented together

22. Metamorphic Rock
forms when existing rock is changed by heat, pressure or chemical reactions

23. Rock Cycle
series of processes that change one type of rock into another type of rock

25. Rock Groups

26. IGNEOUS ROCKS Formation: May form on or beneath Earth’s surface.
Extrusive rocks – igneous rocks formed from lava that erupted onto Earth’s surface
Intrusive rocks – rock that formed when magma hardened beneath Earth’s surface

27. IGNEOUS ROCKS
Texture: Geologists determine whether an igneous rock is extrusive or intrusive based on its texture
extrusive - small, hard to see crystals
intrusive -large and interlocking crystals
Composition: can sometimes be determined by color of rock

28. SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
sediment – small, solid pieces of material that come from rocks or remains of living things
Formed through a series of processes which include:
erosion – form sediment by particles getting carried away from their source by wind and water
deposition – process by which sediment settles out of the water or wind carrying it
compaction – process that presses sediment together growing thick layers that build up over millions of years
cementation – process in which dissolved minerals crystallize and glue particles of sediment together

29. METAMORPHIC ROCKS
Heat and pressure deep beneath Earth’s surface can change any rock into metamorphic rock.
foliated – metamorphic rocks that have their grains arranged in parallel layers or bands
nonfoliated – mineral grains are arranged randomly

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