Geology for Civil Engineers - Mineralogy and Resources

Vocabulary flashcards covering rock-forming minerals, physical properties, garnet varieties, crystal growth processes, and energy resources like coal and petroleum from CE 212 Geology for Civil Engineers.

Augite

A common rock-forming clinopyroxene mineral with the chemical composition $(Ca,Na)(Mg,Fe,Al)(Si,Al)_2O_6$, featuring green, black, or brown color, vitreous to dull luster, two cleavage directions under $90^\circ$, Mohs hardness $5.5$ to $6$, and specific gravity $3.2$ to $3.6$.

Biotite

A group of black sheet silicate micas with perfect cleavage, vitreous luster on cleavage faces, and dark color, used in paints, drilling muds, rubber products, roofing coatings, and potassium-argon dating.

Muscovite

The most common mineral of the mica family, found in igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, known for splitting into thin, flexible, elastic, colorless, transparent sheets with pearly to vitreous luster.

Muscovy Glass

Thin, transparent muscovite sheets mined from pegmatites around Moscow, Russia, in the 1700s for use as window panes, which inspired the mineral name muscovite.

Calcite

A ubiquitous rock-forming carbonate mineral ($CaCO_3$) with a trigonal crystal system, perfect rhombohedral cleavage in three directions, Mohs hardness $3$, specific gravity $2.7$, and weak effervescence in dilute $HCl$.

Garnet

A group of rock-forming silicate minerals with general composition $X_3Y_2(SiO_4)_3$, displaying vitreous luster, transparent-to-translucent diaphaneity, brittle tenacity, and an absence of cleavage.

Almandine

A species of garnet mineral with formula $Fe_3Al_2(SiO_4)_3$, specific gravity $4.20$, Mohs hardness $7 - 7.5$, and red to brown coloration.

Pyrope

A garnet mineral species having chemical composition $Mg_3Al_2(SiO_4)_3$, specific gravity $3.56$, Mohs hardness $7 - 7.5$, and red to purple color.

Spessartine

A garnet species with chemical formula $Mn_3Al_2(SiO_4)_3$, specific gravity $4.18$, Mohs hardness $6.5 - 7.5$, and orange to red to brown color.

Andradite

A garnet mineral species with composition $Ca_3Fe_2(SiO_4)_3$, specific gravity $3.90$, Mohs hardness $6.5 - 7$, and green, yellow, or black color.

Grossular

A garnet species with composition $Ca_3Al_2(SiO_4)_3$, specific gravity $3.57$, Mohs hardness $6.5 - 7.5$, and green, yellow, red, pink, or clear color.

Uvarovite

A green garnet mineral species with chemical formula $Ca_3Cr_2(SiO_4)_3$, specific gravity $3.85$, and Mohs hardness $6.5 - 7$.

Magma

Melted rock inside Earth, consisting of a molten mixture hotter than $1,000\,^\circ\text{C}$ that cools slowly underground to allow large crystal growth.

Lava

Magma that erupts onto Earth's surface, cooling rapidly to form very small mineral crystals.

Granite

A coarse-grained igneous rock formed from slowly cooled magma, consisting of quartz, plagioclase feldspar, potassium feldspar, and biotite.

Precipitate

A solid mineral formed when water evaporates or holds more dissolved minerals than it can contain in solution, causing particles to combine and sink.

Tufa Towers

Calcium-rich mineral formations in Mono Lake, California, formed when subterranean spring water bubbles up into alkaline lake water and becomes exposed as water levels drop.

Vein

A mineral deposit created when hot underground water carrying dissolved minerals flows through cracks in rocks, cools, and precipitates solids.

Geode

A rock containing internal cavities inside which large crystals, such as amethyst, grow from mineral-rich water solutions.

Peat

Partially decayed plant matter accumulated in swamps and bogs; an early precursor with low heat content that is not classified as true coal.

Coal

A readily combustible rock containing more than $50\%$ carbon by weight, created from dead plant matter transformed over millions of years by heat and pressure.

Lignite

A soft brown coal with low heat content, low sulfur content, and limited regional supplies.

Bituminous

A soft coal extensively used as a fuel due to its high heat content and large supplies, usually containing a high sulfur content.

Anthracite

A hard coal that is highly desirable as a fuel due to its high heat content and low sulfur content, found in limited supplies.

Petroleum

A liquid fossil fuel created beneath Earth's surface by the decomposition of ancient organic matter, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons and sulfur.

Crude Oil

Unrefined liquid petroleum as initially extracted, ranging in color from brownish-black to pale yellow or colorless, with a viscosity ranging from fluid to tar-like.