Rocks and minerals

Crystal

Crystal

A solid whose atoms are arranged in a “highly ordered” repeating atoms

Compound

Two or more elements combined

Element

A substance composed of single kind of atom

Organic

A compound substance containing Carbon, produced by or derived from living organisms

Streak

The color of a minerals powder

Inorganic

A compound substance not containing Carbon

Hardness Mohs scale

A scale that ranks a mineral’s hardness from 1(softest) to 10(hardest)

Luster

A term used to describe how light is reflected fro a mineral’s surface

Minerals

A naturally occurring element or compound having an orderly internal structure and characteristic chemical composition, crystal form, and physical properties.

Cleavage

Is the tendency of a mineral to cleave, or break, along a flat, even surface.

Coarse grain

large and easy to see

Sedimentary

Forms when small particles of rocks or remains of plants and animals are pressed and cemented together

Rock texture

Rocks made up of particles of minerals or other rocks

Igneous

Magma/lava hardens

Fracture

The uneven breaking of a mineral

Conchoidal

A fracture that results in a smooth rounded surface resembling the shape of a shell.

Crystallization 

the process by which a solid forms, where the atoms or molecules are highly organized into a structure known as crystal

Solution

 is a mixture in which one substance is dissolved in another

Vein

 A narrow channel or slab of a mineral that is different from the surrounding rocks.Examples can include gold,silver, and quartz

Magma

Forms beneath the earth’s surface and high in silicates.

Lava

Above the earth’s surface and low in silicates.

Rock

A naturally occurring, solid substance that is normally made of minerals

Metamorphic

Forms when a rock is changed by heat or pressure, or by chemical reactions

Fine grain

So small you need a microscope to see

Conglomerate

contain rock fragments that are different sizes. Rounded edges.

Brecca

Contain rock fragments that are different sizes, Sharp edges.

Extrusive Ignous

The rocks that form once lava hardens

Intrusive igneous

Rocks that form when magma hardens benath earth’s surface

Volcanic

relating to or produced by a volcano

Plutonic

Solidification deep in the earth’s surface

Volcanic glass

Lacks crystal structure

Weathering

The effects of freezing and thawing,plant roots, acid, and other forces on rock.

Erosion

The movement of broken down material.

Deposition

The process by which sediment settles out of the water or wind carrying it

Compaction

The process that presses sediments together

Cementation

The process in which dissolved minerals crystallize and glue particles of sediments together

Clastic rock

sedimentary rock formed when rock fragments are squeezed together

Strata

The layers that sedimentary rock form in.

Foliated rock

 Mineral grains that are arranged in either parallel layers or bands. Thin, flat layering.

Non foliated rock

Mineral grains in the rocks are arranged randomly

Rock cycle

A cycle of processes undergone by rocks in the earth’s crust