What are Minerals?
Minerals are the building blocks of rocks. Mineralogists use the criteria to determine
whether a material is classified as a mineral or not.
Characteristics of Minerals
1. naturally occurring - a product of Earth’s natural processes
2. inorganic- it must be product of Earth’s physical processes.
3. homogeneous solid- minerals should have definite volume and rigid shape
4. definite chemical composition—represented by a chemical formula
5. orderly crystalline structure- atoms of minerals are arranged in an orderly and repeating pattern
Properties of Minerals
To identify minerals, mineralogists observe the following properties:
1. Color - mineral’s color may change depending on the surface.
2. Streak - color of mineral in powdered form.
3. Hardness - minerals resistance to scratching
Mohs Scale of Hardness (Diamond is the Hardest with a scale of 10)
Diamond
Corundum
Topaz
Quartz
Orthoclase
Apatite
Fluorite
Calcite
Gypsum
Talc
4. Cleavage - mineral’s resistance to being broken and fracture
5. Amount of transparency - ability to allow light to pass through it. This is affected by chemical
makeup of the mineral sample.
6. Luster - how light is reflected off a surface
7. Tenacity - describes the minerals reaction to stress.
Brittleness - a mineral turn into powder
Malleability a mineral can be flattened by pounding with a hammer.
Ductility - A mineral can be stretched into wire.
Flexible but Inelastic - Minerals are bent but they remain in the new position.
Flexible and elastic- Minerals are bent, and they bring back to their original position.
Sectility - ability of minerals to be sliced by a knife.
ROCKS
o Petrology is the scientific study of rocks.
Rocks are combined aggregation of minerals
Petrologist classified rocks based on how they were formed. In general, rocks are classified as
igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rock.
Petrologists classify rocks based on how they were formed.
Three types of Rocks
(1) Igneous- formed from hardening and crystallization of
magma or molten material that originates deep within the earth.
Two types of igneous rock:
A. Extrusive/Volcanic rock - forms when magma makes its
way to Earth’s surface
as lava and then cools. The crystals are very small (fine grained) since the cooling process is fast.
B. Intrusive/Plutonic - It cools slowly beneath the Earth surface and are created by magma. The
intrusive igneous rocks have very large crystals (coarse grained)
Igneous rocks are classified based on
1. Composition
FELSIC - light in color; feldspar and silicates
MAFIC - dark in color; made up of magnesium and iron
INTERMEDIATE – between mafic and felsic
ULTRAMAFIC - very dark color
2. Texture - overall appearance of rock
Aphanistic - fine grained
Phaneritic - coarse grained
Porphyritic- large crystals with small crystals Glassy-non
ordered solid from rapid quenching.
Pyroclastic- composite of ejected fragments
Examples:
Basalt, granite, obsidian, pumice, diorite, gabbro.
(2) Metamorphic Rocks - forms from pre-existing rocks: either igneous,
sedimentary.
Examples: Quartzite, marble, slate, phyllite
Metamorphism - transformation of one rock type into another.
2 types of metamorphism
1. Regional - due to changes in pressure and temperature over large region
of the crust
2. Contact - mainly by heat due to contact with magma
Classification:
a. Texture - refers to the size arrangement ad grains within the rock.
Foliation - any planar arrangement of mineral grains or structural features within the rock.
*foliated - appeared banded or layered, contains crystals Example: mica
Non-foliated - made up of only few minerals.
(3) Sedimentary rocks
o provide information about surface conditions that existed in the Earth’s past.
o Particles of sand, shells, pebbles, and other fragments of materials called sediments,
accumulate in layers and over long period of time harden into rocks.
o Compaction-due to increase of pressure of layered sediments it bind together to form the
sedimentary rocks.
Three types of sedimentary rocks
1. Clastic Sedimentary rock - formed from accumulation of clasts: little
pieces of broken
rocks and shells. Examples: conglomerate, breccia, sandstone, shale
2. Chemical - formed when dissolved minerals precipitate from a solution.
Example: Halite - formed when a body of seawater becomes closed off and
evaporates.
3. Organic - rocks formed from the accumulation of animal debris.
Example: Coal - composed of organic matter in the form of plants fragments.
