Absorption Spectrum 

: Colors of light least absorbed combining to produce the color of the stone. The stone, when viewed by spectroscope,
will show as dark bands in characteristic positions the colors most strongly absorbed.

Acicular : Needlelike; refers to the growth of a mineral in long and slender crystals. 

Adamantine :  Very high luster.

Aggregate : Intergrowth of several crystals, these may be globular, fibrous, reniform, or radiating fibrous.

Adularescence : The sheen of color seen in moonstone and other feldspars of the adularia variety. 

Allochromatic Minerals : Minerals that are colorless when pure, the color coming from coloring agents, most of which are, cobalt, copper,
chromium, titanium, vanadium, manganese, and iron. Examples of this are beryl,corundum, quartz, and spinel. 

Alluvium : Continental sediments due to transport and deposition of gravel, sand, and clay by running water, rivers, and streams. (See
alluvial)

Alpha rays : Helium atoms with double positive charge. 

Alpine cavities (vugs) : Hollows in silicate rock, they may be partially filled with mineral formations. 
Alteration pseudomorph : One mineral has been replaced by another that is unrelated while preserving the original crystal form. 

Amorphous : Has no characteristic external form or shape. The arrangement of the atoms and molecules are irregular 

Amphiboles : A group of closely related, dark colored rock forming silicate minerals, as in, actinolite, hornblende. 

Anisotropic :  when applied to crystals it is the display of unequal physical properties in different directions. An example would be a mineral
which has a different hardness when tested in different directions. 

Amygdaloidal : (amygdule) gas filled volcanic rock. 

Amygdule : A rounded mass of mineral formed in a gas cavity. 

Angstrom Unit : Unit and length of measurement of wavelengths of visible light and most xrays. (1 A.= .0000001 millimeter) 

Anisotropic : Crystals in which the optical properties vary with direction. All crystals except those in the cubic system are in this category,
and exhibit double refraction. 

Aphanitic rock :  That rock in which the crystals are too small to be seen by the unaided eye. 

Arid :  dry or desert like. 

Arsenates : Minerals in which AsO4 radical is an important constituent. 

Asterism : Stones containing suitably oriented rod like inclusions or channels, that are cut as cabochon in the correct direction show this star
effect. Star effect. 

Atom : The smallest part of a chemical element which remains unchanged during all chemical reactions. Atomic Weight : Weight of an atom
compared with an atom of oxygen (16.00). 

Batholith :  A huge body of plutonic rock that has been intruded deep into the earth's crust and latter exposed by erosion. 

Bean (pisolitic) iron ore :  Globular aggregates of limonite that occur in karst cavities as weathering formations. 

Beta rays : Electron rays

Bezel :  A rim of metal surrounding a gemstone securing it. 

Biaxial : Two optic axes or double refraction. Usually crystals in the rhombic, monoclinic, and triclinic system. 
Bipyramid (dipyramid) : Crystals that form symmetrically about a plane dividing it into two pyramids. 

Birefringence : Same as double refraction. Splits rays of light passing through a transparent object as glass or crystal. 

Botryoidal :  Resembling a bunch of grapes in rounded masses of a mineral. 

Boule : The form and shape of a synthetic stone when created by the inverted blowpipe of a Verneuil furnace, somewhat carrot shaped. 

Breccia : An aggregate of angular fragments of stone or mineral cemented together as in calcite and chalcedony. 

Brilliant : The cut of a gemstone that is round and has 32 facets plus the table above the girdle, (crown), and 24 facets plus any culet below
the girdle, (pavilion). 

Cabochon : The cut of a gemstone that has a convex surface. A cab. 

Cameo :  A carved shell, sometimes cut from onyx or other mineral containing bands of different colors, To cut in relief, the opposite of
intaglio. 

Carat : Unit of weight used to weigh gemstones, equal to 200 milligrams, or .200 grams. 1 gr. = 5 ct. 100 points = 1 ct. metric system. 

Cataclastic rock :  A metamorphic rock produced by the crushing and grinding of preexisting rocks, which are still visible as crushed
fragments. 

Chatoyancy : Cat's eye effect produced by some gemstones when cut properly in cabochon. See asterism. 

Chelsea Filter : A dichromatic color filter transmitting light of only two wavelengths, one deep red the other yellow green. Used to
discriminate between emerald and synth. spinel and green glass colored with cobalt. 

Chemical Element : Matter composed of atoms of only one chemical type which cannot be decomposed into simpler substances by chemical
methods. 

Clastic rock :  Sedimentary rock made up of fragments of preexisting rocks and transported into the place of deposition. 
Cleavage : The tendency of stones to split along one or more definite directions, always parallel to a possible crystal face. 

Conchoidal..(fracture), A breakage which leaves a conchoidal shell shaped surface.

Conglomerate ( as in geology) .. Conglomerates, as well as sedimentary breccias, are coarse-grained SEDIMENTARY ROCKS formed by the
consolidation and hardening of, respectively, rounded and angular gravel deposited in oceans. More than 30 percent of the large particles of
these rocks exceed 2 mm (0.08 in) in diameter. The particles may be pebbles, cobbles, or boulders, or mixtures of these sizes. Both
conglomerates and sedimentary breccias may be named and classified by the proportion of gravel - sized particles; the type of matrix,and the
types of gravel-sized particles. The proportion of gravel is a function of the highest current speed at the time of deposition and the availability
of particles of such coarse size. A sample that is more than 80 percent pebbles, cobbles, or boulders is called a conglomerate proper, whereas
one that is 30 to 80 percent is an arenaceous (sandy) conglomerate or an argillaceous (shaley) conglomerate. The matrix between the layers
of coarse particles may also be calcareous (that is, containing calcium carbonate) or sideritic (containing ferrous carbonate). On the basis of
the variety of pebbles, cobbles, and boulders in conglomerates, they can be classified as oligomictic, consisting of a single kind of rock (such
as one of various varieties of chert and quartzite or other rock), or polymictic, containing many kinds of rock. 

Concretion : Knobby or rounded mineral concentrations in sedimentary rocks that are completely surrounded by rock. 

Contact metamorphism : The change of rock due to the effect of high temperatures during contact with a lava flow, magma sloping, or
igneous intrusion. 

Critical Angle : The angle at which a ray of light passes from one medium to another, as a gemstone and air. Cryptocrystalline :  : The
structure of a substance as chalcedony, that consist of very small crystals but show no external sign of crystal structure. 

Crystal..A homogeneous body in the form of a geometric solid bonded by polyhedral faces, the nature of which is expression of the orderly
and periodic arrangement of its constituent atoms. 

Crystal Axes : "Lines" passing through a crystal in important symmetric directions, intersecting at the center of the crystal. 
Crystal Systems : The six main groups into which crystals can be classified: triclinic, monoclinic, orthorhombic, cubic, tetragonal and
hexagonal. 

Decrepitation :  The explosive shattering of mineral grains on heating.

Dendrites :  Skeletal crystals that develop from supersaturated solutions, often in small cracks, often resembling plant or trees.
Density : The ratio of the weight of a substance to its volume expressed in g/cm 3, and numerically equal to the specific gravity. 

Detrital : Occurrence of minerals in gravels that came from a mineral deposit. (placer) 

Diaphaneity : Showing light through its substance; transparent; translucent. 

Dichroism : Possessing the property of showing two different colors when viewed from different angles. 

Dike :  In the forming of rocks, when intruding sedimentary rocks in a vertical or nearly vertical position. 

Dispersion..The separation of white light into its constituent colors by its refraction or diffraction. 

Double Refraction : Ability of certain crystals to split incident light into two rays with different refractive indices. 

Doublets : A common method of building up sufficient thickness to permit a gem to be used in a setting. A non gem mineral is cemented to
the top or bottom of the gem material. (See Opals.) 

Dripstone : stalagmites or stalactites 

Druse : A crystal coated surface of rock. 

Doctile : Able to be drawn into a wire. 

Endogenous : Generated deep in the earth by volcanism or earthquakes. 

Enhydro : A chalcedony or carnelian geode having the center cavity filled with water.

Epithermal vein :  Formed at shallow depths from ascending hot solutions. 

Epizone : In regional metamorphism, the depth level nearest the surface to approx. 3.75 to 4.25 miles. 

Extinction : Diminution in the intensity of radiation due to absorption by or scattering in the medium; also the stopping of incident X-rays by
the outer layers of atoms in a crystal. 

Extraordinary Ray : Crystals and minerals belonging to the hexagonal tetragonal systems in which the ray or refractive index varies
according to its direction through the crystal.
Extrusive rock : Igneous rock that solidifies on the surface of the earth. 

Facet : Man made flat part of a mineral, a planar surface. 

Ferromagnetism : magnetic even in the absence of an external magnetic field. 

Fire : Same as dispersion 

Fluorescence : Temporary emission of radiations of different wavelength (color) by a substance struck by light waves usually long or short
wave ultraviolet light. 

Fluvial : Deposits from rivers. 

Foliated : Made up of thin leaves, like mica. 

Formulas : For weight estimation based on measurements in millimeters to 1/10. assuming well cut stones with little or no bulge factor.
Some formulas for various gem cuts. 
Fracture : A break with an uneven or irregular surface. 

Fraunhofer Lines : A series of groups of dark lines in the spectrum of an object, visible using a spectroscope. 

Friable :  Easily crumbled or pulverized. 

Fumaroles : Spots in or near active volcanos where gases are expelled. 

Gabgue : The minerals of no value in veins with ore minerals. 

Gamma rays : Short wave electromagnetic waves. 

Gangue : Minerals of no value associated in veins with ore minerals. 

Geniculated :  Knee like intergrowths of crystals. 

Geode : A stone having a cavity lined with crystals; the cavity in such a stone. 

Girdle : The wide part of a cut gemstone

Gliding plane :  acrystal direction along which the atoms can slip a defined distance without destroying the coherence of the crystal. 

Grain : (Troy system)..480 grains to the oz. 

Habit : Characteristic crystal form.

Hacklt : A fracture characteristic of metals in rock, like gold and copper. (hackly) 

Hardness : The resistance by a substance to actions which tend to modify its surface by scratching, abrasion, penetration. 

Hemimorphic : Half formed crystals in which the faces that grow on one end are different in angle and position from the faces to be found
on the other end. 

Hydrothermal : Hot water or solution sometimes superheated 

Idiochromatic : Minerals : in which the color is due to an essential constituent. 

Igneous rock.. Rock formed by the solidification of magma. 

Inclusions : Substances within a mineral, example, other minerals, gas bubbles, liquids, or other foreign objects. 

Imitation Stones : Substances used to look like a genuine. ie: glass, plastic, etc. 

Inclusions : Solid, gaseous, or liquid material of various types incorporated in a crystal during its formation and growth. 

Intaglio : Incised carving; a sunken design, ie: cameo 

Intarsia : Mosaic inlay work using colored stones. (and wood) 

Ion : Electrically charged atom, radical or molecule. 

Isomorphous  : Minerals in which two or more elements can replace each other to any extent without notably changing the appearance of
the crystal. 

Isotropic : Materials in which the optical character is the same in all directions. 

Labradorescence : Patchy or diffuse iridescence due to the interference of light by reflection from parallel inclusions. Example Labradorite. 

Light : Radiant energy which gives the sensation of sight. Velocity is 186,285 miles per second. 

Litmus paper :  colored paper used to show whether a solution is acid or alkaline. 
Lopolith.. A large, lenticular, sunken mass of igneous rock whose surfaces are concordant with the enclosing rocks. 

Luster : A reflective property of mineral surfaces.

Magma : Molten silica containing volatile substances in solution, present beneath the surface in certain areas of the earth's crust. 

Malleable : Can be flattened by pounding, as in metals. 

Mammillary :  rounded mineral surface 

Massive : Minerals not bounded by crystal faces. 

Metamorphism : (geological)..Changes in rocks brought about by heat and pressure acting in the rocks just below the surface. 

Meteorite : Solid object that comes from outer space and falls to earth. 

Miaroles : Small cavities in granitic rocks created by volatile components. 

Miller indices : Group of three digits used to designate crystal faces. 

Mohs Scale : The relative scale of the hardness of minerals, from 1 to 10, the order of hardness with no significance to quantitative
relationship. 

Molecule : Two or more atoms in close relationship, The smallest quantity of an element or compound which is capable of independent
existence. 

Monochromatic Light : Light of one wavelength only. 

Nicol Prism : Prism for producing polarized light, having split the light into two rays. 

Nodule : A lump or node. 

Opaque : Not transparent or translucent. (you can't see through it) 

Optic Axis : The direction of single refraction in a double refractive mineral. 

Optic sign : If the lower index of the refractive reading does not vary when the gemstone is rotated, it is uniaxial and + optic sign, if the
higher index is steady and the lower index varies the optical sign is -. 

Ore :  A mineral occurring in sufficient amounts to permit its recovery at a profit. 

Organic : compounds of carbon, ie: coal, jet 

Orient : Characteristic sheen and iridescence, as displayed in a good pearl. v Orientation :  Applied to crystals, this means visualizing the
disposition of the principal directions within the crystal. 

Orogenesis : A complex phenomena that leads to the formation of mountain ranges.

Outcrop : Where the bed rock is exposed. 

Paleontology :  a division of geology that concerns itself with prehistoric life. 

Paragenesis..The sequence in time in which a mineral crystallizes with respect to the other minerals. 

Paramorph : A chemically identical crystal compared with the original, but the atoms have been rearranged so that they no longer conform
to the original outline. 

Parting : A smooth fracture that looks like a cleavage plane but takes place only on certain planes in the crystal, not between any set of
atoms, like true cleavage.
Paste : Lead glass imitation stone. 

Pegmatites : .A very coarse platonic rock, generally granitic in composition. Usually forming dikes that cut granite or the gneisses and
schists that border granite masses. They are coarse because the liquid residue at the time of their crystallization contained a high percentage
of water and other volatile elements that did not go into the makeup of the common minerals of granite, and were concentrated in the
residue. 

Petrography.. The branch of geology that deals with the description and classification of rocks. 

Phaneritic rock.. An igneous rock in which all of the essential minerals can be seen by the unaided eye. 

Phenocryst : Crystal that is set in a finer grained ground mass. 

Phosphorescence : Luminescence emanating from substances that have been irradiated with ultraviolet light or X-rays, but persisting after
the source of stimulation has stopped. 

Piezoelectric : A substance that becomes electrically charged by pressure. 

Pipe : In geology, the tubular ascending structures in volcanic rock. 

Placer : Concentrations of heavy or resistant minerals that have been transported to rivers or other water areas. 

Plastics : Synthetic resin, hard, usually molded. 

Pleochroism : Dichroism and similar effects shown by some biaxial minerals in which three distinct colors or shades can be seen by using a
dichroscope. (two at a time)
Plutonic rock : rock that has solidified deep underground. 

Pneumatolysis : The action of gases of a magma on the surrounding rocks and on the solidifying molten mass itself. Point : (diamonds)..
1/100 of a carat, .01 ct. 

Polarized Light : Light which vibrates in one direction or plane. 

Polaroid : Class or plastic which passes light on one plane. 

Potch : native material in or around a gemstone, a dead spot or area. ie: ironstone surrounding opal. 

Radioactive : Emitting alpha, beta, or gamma rays. 

Reconstructed Stones : Old method of fusing Stones made from chips. Used now to describe amber remelted and fused from otherwise
unusable pieces. 

Reflection : The throwing off or back, light from the surface. 

Refraction : The bending of light passing through one medium to another. The changing of direction. 

Refractive Index : The measurement of the amount of change in direction of light passing through one medium to another. The ratio of the
velocity of the light in air to the velocity of light in the medium being measured. 

Refractometer : Instrument used to determine the refractive index of various substances. 

Rock : Stoney matter. Any mass of mineral matter forming an essential part of the earth's crust. 

Sclerometer : Device for the quantitative measuring of hardness. 

Sedimentary Rocks : formed originally of sediment, including shale and sandstone, composed of fragments of other rocks deposited after
transportation from their sources, and including those formed by precipitation, as gypsum, or by calcareous secretions of animals as in certain
limestones. 
Selvage : The area bordering a vein. 

Sheen : The iridescence of light reflected from the surface of a stone. ie: moonstone 

Silk : Fine rod like crystals embedded in a crystal 

 
Skarn : Contact rock of igneous silicate masses with limestone. 

Specific Gravity : The weight of a substance compared to the weight of an equal volume of pure water at 4 degrees C. 

Spectroscope : Instrument which resolves light into its component wavelengths by refraction through prisms or diffraction grating. 

Spectrum : The band of light showing the succession of rainbow colors corresponding to the different wavelengths. The VISIBLE spectrum is
the small portion in the vast spectrum of electromagnetic waves, which extend from very long waves, (now used by submarines for
underwater communication) to very short waves (gamma) emitted by radioactive elements. 

Stalactites : dripstone, stalagmite..the formation of a conelike structure that grows from the deposits of carbonate of lime build up. 

Star : The effect of proper cutting of a gemstone as a cabochon when the gemstone contains long rod like crystals or fibers in parallel or
cavities where these have formally been. The reflection, (using a single light source), from the surface produces lines in even numbers, ie:
2,4,6,8,12, with a common center. 

Step cut : (trap cut)..Cut with edges are parallel to those the rectangular table. 

Synthetic stones : Man made stones which have approx. the same composition and or crystal structure of the natural crystal which they
represent. (See synthetic diamonds.) 

Transparency : The degree to which light passes through a substance. 

Twin Crystals : Two or more crystals which have grown together in a symmetrical fashion. 

Ultraviolet Light : Wavelengths of light shorter than visible violet light. 

 
Ultrabasic rock.. Any plutonic igneous rock with very low silica content. 

Uniaxial : Minerals having single refraction, one optic axis.

Vacuolar texture .. texture typical of igneous rocks rich in cavities. 

Vectorial properties .. properties of a mineral which vary with direction. 

Vein : A more or less upright sheet deposit of minerals, cutting other rocks and formed from solutions rather than from a molten magma as
in a dike. 

Vicarious elements .. those that take each other's place in trace amounts in a mineral,s crystal structure. Vitreous.. Glasslike in appearance
or texture. 

Vug : An open cavity in rocks, often lined with crystals. 

Xenolith .. rock enclosed in magma. 

Xrays : Electromagnetic radiations of a shorter wavelength than visible light. Usually less than one Angstrom.
 Geology Glossary Special- II

This glossary includes words commonly used to describe the nature of earthquakes, how they occur, and their effects, as well as a discussion
of the instruments used to record earthquake motion. Each word or phrase that is in blue in the text is explained in this glossary. 

Accelerograph

A seismograph whose output is proportional to ground acceleration (in comparison to the usual seismograph whose output is proportional to
ground velocity). Accelerographs are typically used as instruments designed to record very strong ground motion useful in engineering
design; seismographs commonly record off scale in these circumstances. Normally, strong motion instruments do not record unless triggered
by strong ground motion.

Aftershock

One of many earthquakes that often occur during the days to months after some larger earthquake (mainshock) has occurred. Aftershocks
occur in the same general region as the mainshock and are believed to be the result of minor readjustments of stress at places in the fault
zone.

Amplitude

The amplitude of a seismic wave is the amount the ground moves as the wave passes by. (As an illustration, the amplitude of an ocean wave
is one-half the distance between the peak and trough of the wave. The amplitude of a seismic wave can be measured from the signal
recorded on a seismogram.)

Aseismic creep

Movement along a fracture in the Earth that occurs without causing earthquakes. This movement is so slow that it is not recorded by ordinary
seismographs.

Collision

A term sometimes applied to the convergence of two plates in which neither plate subducts. Instead, the edges of the plates crumple and are
severely deformed. 
 
Convection

The motion of a liquid driven by gravity and temperature differences in the material. In the Earth, where pressure and temperature are high,
rocks can act like viscous fluids on a time scale of millions of years. Thus, scientists believe that convection is an important process in the
rocks that make up the Earth.

Convergent boundary

The boundary between two plates that approach one another. The convergence may result in subduction if one plate yields by diving deep
into the Earth, obduction if one plate is thrust over the other, or collision if the plates simply ram into each other and are deformed.

Core

The Earth's central region, believed to be composed mostly of iron. The core has a radius of 3,477 kilometers and is surrounded by the
Earth's mantle. At the center of the molten outer core is a solid inner core with a radius of 1,213 kilometers.

Earthquake

The release of stored clastic energy caused by sudden fracture and movement of rocks inside the Earth. Part of the energy released produces
seismic waves, like P, S, and surface waves, that travel outward in all directions from the point of initial rupture. These waves shake the
ground as they pass by. An earthquake is felt if the shaking is strong enough to cause ground accelerations exceeding approximately 1.0
centimeter/second' (Richter, 1958).

Epicenter
The location on the surface of the Earth directly above the focus, or place where an earthquake originates. An earthquake caused by a fault
that offsets features on the Earth's surface may have an epicenter that does not lie on the trace of that fault on the surface. This occurs if the
fault plane is not vertical and the earthquake occurs below the Earth's surface.

Fault

A break in the Earth along which movement occurs. Sudden movement along a fault produces earthquakes. Slow movement produces
aseismic creep. 
Fault plane solution
The calculation of the orientation, dip, and slip direction of a fault that produced the ground motion recorded at seismograph stations.
Sometimes called a focal mechanism solution.

Focus

The place in the Earth where rock first breaks or slips at the time of an earthquake; also called the hypocenter. The focus is a single point on
the surface of a ruptured fault. During a great earthquake, which might rupture a fault for hundreds of kilometers, one could be standing on
the rupturing fault, yet be hundreds of kilometers from the focus.

Intensity

A measure of the severity of shaking at a particular site. It is usually estimated from descriptions of damage to buildings and terrain. The
intensity is often greatest near the earthquake epicenter. Today, the Modified Mercalli Scale is commonly used to rank the intensity from I to
XII according to the kind and amount of damage produced. Before 1931 earthquake intensifies were often reported using the Rossi-Forel
scale (Richter, 1958).
Kilometers and other metric units of measure:
Conversion formulae:
 Millimeters x 0.039 = inches
 Centimeters x 0.394 = inches
 Meters x 3.28 = feet
 Kilometers x 0.621 = statute miles
 Square kilometers x 0.386 = square miles
 Cubic kilometers x 0.240 = cubic miles
Liquifaction

A process, in which, during ground shaking, some sandy, water-saturated soils can behave like liquids rather than solids.

Magnitude

A quantity characteristic of the total energy released by an earthquake, as contrasted with intensity, which describes its effects at a particular
place. A number of earthquake magnitude scales exist, including local (or Richter) magnitude (ML), body wave magnitude (Mb), surface wave
magnitude (Ms), moment magnitude (Mw), and coda magnitude (Mc). As a general rule, an increase of one magnitude unit corresponds to
ten times greater ground motion, an increase of two magnitude units corresponds to 100 times greater ground motion, and so on in a
logarithmic series. Commonly, earthquakes are recorded with magnitudes from 0 to 8, although occasionally large ones (M = 9) and very
small ones (M = -I or -2) are also recorded. Nearby earthquakes with magnitudes as small as 2 to 3 are frequently felt. The actual ground
motion for, say, a magnitude 5 earthquake is about 0.04 millimeters at a distance of 100 kilometers from the epicenter; it is 1.1 millimeters
at a distance of 10 kilometers from the epicenter.

Mainshock

The largest in a series of earthquakes occurring closely in time and space. The mainshock may be preceded by foreshocks or followed by
aftershocks.
Mantle
A rock layer, about 2,894 kilometers thick, between the Earth's crust and core. Like the crust, the upper part of the mantle is relatively
brittle. Together, the upper brittle part of the mantle and the crust form tectonic plates.
Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale
A scale for measuring ground shaking at a site, and whose values range from I (not felt) to XII (extreme damage to buildings and land
surfaces).
 
NEHRP

The federal National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program, enacted in 1977, to reduce potential losses from earthquakes by funding
research in earthquake prediction and hazards and to guide the implementation of earthquake loss reduction programs.
Normal Fault

A normal fault can result from vertical motion of two adjacent blocks under horizontal tension. (It also occurs in rocks under compression if
stress is unequal in different directions. In this case, the minimum and maximum compressive stresses must be applied horizontally and
vertically respectively.) In a normal fault, the upper of the two adjacent blocks of rock slips relatively downward.

P (Primary) waves

Also called compressional or longitudinal waves, P waves are the fastest seismic waves produced by an earthquake. They oscillate the ground
back and forth along the direction of wave travel, in much the same way as sound waves, which are also compressional, move the air back
and forth as the waves travel from the sound source to a sound receiver. 

Plates

Pieces of crust and brittle uppermost mantle, perhaps 100 kilometers thick and hundreds or thousands of kilometers wide, that cover the
Earth's surface. The plates move very slowly over, or possibly with, a viscous layer in the mantle at rates of a few centimeters per year.

Plate boundaries

The edges of plates or the junction between plates. See also plates, convergent (both collision and subduction), spreading, and transform
boundaries.

Plate tectonics

A widely accepted theory that relates most of the geologic features near the Earth's surface to the movement and interaction of relatively thin
rock plates. The theory predicts that most earthquakes occur when plates move past each other.

Return times

Sometimes called the recurrence time or recurrence interval. The return time, or more properly the average return time, of an earthquake is
the number of years between occurrences of an earthquake of a given magnitude in a particular area. For example, if the average time of an
earthquake having magnitude greater than or equal to 7 is 100 years, then, on the average, such earthquakes will occur every 100 years. If
such earthquakes occur randomly in time, there is always the chance that the actual time interval between the events will be less or greater
than 100 years. Return time is best described in terms of probabilities. In the case of an earthquake having a 100-year average return time,
there is about an 18 percent chance that such an earthquake will occur in the next 20 years and a 63 percent chance than it will occur in the
next 100 years. On the other hand, there is a 14 percent chance that it will not occur in the next 200 years.
Reverse Fault

A rupture that results from vertical motion of two adjacent blocks caused by horizontal compression. Sometimes called a thrust fault. In a
reverse fault, the upper of the two adjacent blocks moves relatively upward.

Richter Magnigtude Scale

An earthquake magnitude scale, more properly called local magnitude scale, based on measurements of the amplitude of earthquake waves
recorded on a standard Wood-Anderson type seismograph at a distance of less than 600 kilometers from the epicenter (Richter, 1958).

S (Secondary or shear) waves

S waves oscillate the ground perpendicular to the direction of wave travel. They travel about 1.7 times slower than P waves. Because liquids
will not sustain shear stresses, S waves will not travel through liquids like water, molten rock, or the Earth's outer core.

Seiche

A standing wave in a closed body of water such as a lake or bay. It can be characterized as the sloshing of water in the enclosing basin.
Seiches can be produced by seismic waves from earthquakes. The permanent tilting of lake basins caused by nearby fault motions has
produced very energetic seiches.

Seismic waves

A vibrational disturbance in the Earth that travels at speeds of several kilometers per second. There are three main types of seismic waves in
the earth: P (fastest), S (slower), and surface waves (slowest). Seismic waves are produced by earthquakes.

Seismogram

A graph showing the motion of the ground versus time.

Seismograph

A sensitive instrument that can detect, amplify, and record ground vibrations too small to be perceived by human beings.

Site response

Local vibratory response to seismic waves. Some sites experience more or less violent shaking than others, depending on factors such as the
nature and thickness of unconsolidated sediments and/or the configuration of the underlying bedrock. 
Strike-slip fault

Horizontal motion of one block relative to another along a fault plane. If one stands on one side of the fault and observes that an object on
the other side moves to the right during an earthquake, the fault is called a right-lateral strike-slip fault (like California's San Andreas fault).
If the object moves to the left, the fault is called a left-lateral strike-slip fault.

Subduction zone boundary

The region between converging plates, one of which dives beneath the other. The Cascadia subduction zone boundary is an example. 

Subduction earthquake

A thrust-type earthquake caused by slip between converging plates in a subduction zone. Such earthquakes usually occur on the shallow part
of the boundary and can exceed magnitude 8.

Surface waves

Seismic waves, slower than P or S waves, that propagate along the Earth's surface rather than through the deep interior. Two principal types
of surface waves, Love and Rayleigh waves, are generated during an earthquake. Rayleigh waves cause both vertical and horizontal ground
motion, and Love waves cause horizontal motion only. They both produce ground shaking at the Earth's surface but very little motion deep in
the Earth. Because the amplitude of surface waves diminishes less rapidly with distance than the amplitude of P or S waves, surface waves
are often the most important component of ground shaking far from the earthquake source.

Transform boundary

A boundary between plates where the relative motion is horizontal. The San Andreas fault is a transform boundary between the North
America plate and the Pacific plate. The Blanco fracture zone is a transform boundary between the Juan de Fuca and the Pacific plates. 

Tsunami

A tsunami is a series of very long wavelength ocean waves caused by the sudden displacement of water by earthquakes, landslides, or
submarine slumps. Ordinarily, tsunamis are produced only by earthquakes exceeding magnitude 7.5. In the open ocean, tsunami waves
travel at speeds of 600-800 kilometers/hour, but their wave heights are usually only a few centimeters. As they approach shallow water near
a coast, tsunami waves travel more slowly, but their wave heights may increase to many meters, and thus they can become very destructive.
World-wide Standard Seismograph Network

A network of about 110 similarly calibrated seismograph stations that are distributed throughout the world. The network was originally
established in the early 1960s, and its operation is now coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey. Each station has six seismometers that
measure vertical and horizontal ground motion in two frequency ranges.
 ROCKS

What Is a Rock?

Everyone knows what a rock is, until you ask what it is exactly. After some thought and discussion, most people will agree that rocks are
more or less hard solids, of natural origin, made of minerals. But all of those criteria have exceptions. 

Rocks Are Natural

Not entirely. The longer humans stay on this planet, the more that concrete accumulates. Concrete is a mixture of sand and pebbles
(aggregate) and a mineral glue (cement) of calcium silicate compounds. It is a synthetic conglomerate, and it acts just like the natural rock,
turning up in riverbeds and on beaches. Some of it has entered the rock cycle to be discovered by future geologists. 

Brick, too, is an artificial rock—in this case, an artificial form of massive slate. 

Another human product that closely resembles rock is slag, the byproduct of metal smelting. Slag is a complex mixture of oxides that has
many uses, such as in road building and concrete aggregate. It too has surely found its way into sedimentary rocks already.
Rocks Are Made of Minerals

Many are not. Minerals are inorganic compounds with chemical formulas and mineral names, like quartz or pyrite (see "What Is a Mineral?").
But what about coal? Coal is made of organic material, not minerals. The various types of stuff in coal are instead called macerals. Similarly,
what about coquina, a rock made entirely of seashells? Shells are made of mineral matter, but they aren't minerals any more than teeth are.

Rocks Are Hard

Not necessarily. Some common rocks can be scratched with your fingernail: shale, soapstone, gypsum rock, peat. Others may be soft in the
ground, but they harden once they spend time in the air (and vice versa). And there is an imperceptible gradation between consolidated rocks
and unconsolidated sediments. Indeed, geologists name and map many formations that don't consist of rock at all. This is why geologists
refer to work with igneous and metamorphic rocks as "hard-rock geology," opposed to "sedimentary petrology." 

Rocks Are Solid

Most are complete solid. Many rocks include water in their pore spaces. Many geodes—hollow objects found in limestone country—hold water
inside them like coconuts. And the fine lava threads called Pele's hair, and the fine open meshwork of exploded lava called reticulite, are
barely solids. 

Then there's the matter of temperature. Mercury is a liquid metal at room temperature (and down to 40 below zero), and petroleum is a fluid
unless it's asphalt erupted into cold ocean water. And good old ice meets all the criteria of rockhood too, in permafrost and in glaciers. 
 
Rocks like these are not controversial, but they have their own category: biogenic rocks. Perhaps concrete and slag could be added to that
category too. Concrete would fit in with the others, being essentially sedimentary, but slag would probably be a biogenic igneous rock. 

Finally we have the exception of obsidian. Obsidian is a rock glass, cooled so quickly that none of it has gathered into crystals. It is an
undifferentiated mass of geological material, rather like slag but not as colorful. While obsidian has no minerals in it per se, it is
unquestionably a rock.

Types of Rocks:

• Igneous: A tough, frozen melt with little texture or layering; mostly black, white and/or gray minerals; may look like lava.

• Sedimentary: Hardened sediment with layers (strata) of sandy or clayey stone; mostly brown to gray; may have fossils and water or wind
marks.

• Metamorphic: Tough rock with layers (foliation) of light and dark minerals, often curved; various colors; often glittery from mica.

Next, check the rock's grain size and hardness. Then start in the left column of the appropriate table below and work your way across. Follow
the links to pictures and more information. If you don't find a match, try another of the three big types. 

Grain Size:
"Coarse" grains are visible to the naked eye (greater than about 0.1 millimeter), and the minerals can usually be identified using a magnifier;
"fine" grains are smaller and usually cannot be identified with a magnifier.

Hardness:

Hardness (as measured with the Mohs scale) actually refers to minerals rather than rocks, so a rock may be crumbly yet consist of hard
minerals. But in simple terms, "hard" rock scratches glass and steel, usually signifying the minerals quartz or feldspar (Mohs hardness 6-7
and up); "soft" rock does not scratch a steel knife but scratches fingernails (Mohs 3-5.5); "very soft" rock does not scratch fingernails (Mohs
1-2). Igneous rocks are usually hard. 
 
Origin of Igneous Rocks

"Igneous" comes from the Latin for fire, and all igneous rocks began as hot, fluid material. This material may have been lava erupted at the
Earth's surface, or magma (unerupted lava) at shallow depths, or magma in deep bodies (plutons). Rock formed of lava is called extrusive,
rock from shallow magma is called intrusive and rock from deep magma is called plutonic. 

Igneous rocks form in three main places: where lithospheric plates pull apart at mid-ocean ridges, where plates come together at subduction
zones and where continental crust is pushed together, making it thicker and allowing it to heat to melting.

People commonly think of lava and magma as a liquid, like molten metal, but geologists find that magma is usually a mush — a liquid
carrying a load of mineral crystals. Magma crystallizes into a collection of minerals, and some crystallize sooner than others. Not just that, but
when they crystallize, they leave the remaining liquid with a changed chemical composition. Thus a body of magma, as it cools, evolves, and
as it moves through the crust, interacting with other rocks, it evolves further. This makes igneous petrology a very complex field, and this
article is only the barest outline. 

Igneous Rock Textures

The three types of igneous rocks apart by their texture, starting with the size of the mineral grains. Extrusive rocks cool quickly (over periods
of seconds to months) and have invisible or very small grains. Intrusive rocks cool more slowly (over thousands of years) and have small to
medium-sized grains. Plutonic rocks cool over millions of years, deep underground, and can have grains as large as pebbles — even a meter
across. Because they solidified from a fluid state, igneous rocks tend to have a uniform texture, without layers, and the mineral grains are
packed together tightly. Think of the texture of a fruitcake, or the pattern of bubbles in a piece of bread, as similar examples. 

In many igneous rocks, large mineral crystals "float" in a fine-grained groundmass. The large grains are called phenocrysts, and a rock with
phenocrysts is called a porphyry; that is, it has a porphyritic texture. Phenocrysts are minerals that solidified earlier than the rest of the rock,
and they are important clues to the rock's history. Some extrusive rocks have distinctive textures. Obsidian, formed when lava cools very
quickly, has a glassy texture. Pumice and scoria are volcanic froth, puffed up by millions of gas bubbles. Tuff is a rock made entirely of
volcanic ash, fallen from the air or avalanched down a volcano's sides. And pillow lava is a lumpy formation created by extruding lava
underwater. 

Basalt, Granite and Other Igneous Rock Types

The main minerals in igneous rocks are hard, primary ones: feldspar, quartz, amphiboles and pyroxenes (called "dark minerals" by
geologists), and olivine along with the softer mineral mica. 

The two best-known igneous rock types are basalt and granite, which differ in composition. Basalt is the dark, fine-grained stuff of many lava
flows and magma intrusions. Its dark minerals are rich in magnesium (Mg) and iron (Fe), hence basalt is called a mafic rock. So basalt is
mafic and either extrusive or intrusive. Granite is the light, coarse-grained rock formed at depth and exposed after deep erosion. It is rich in
feldspar and quartz (silica) and hence is called a felsic rock. So granite is felsic and plutonic. 

These two categories cover the great majority of igneous rocks. Ordinary people, even ordinary geologists, use the names freely. (Stone
dealers call any plutonic rock at all "granite.") But igneous petrologists use many more names. They generally talk about basaltic and granitic
rocks among themselves and out in the field, because it takes lab work to determine an exact rock type according to the official
classifications. True granite and true basalt are narrow subsets of these categories.

But a few of the less common igneous rock types can be recognized by non-specialists. For instance a dark-colored plutonic mafic rock, the
deep version of basalt, is called gabbro. A light-colored intrusive or extrusive felsic rock, the shallow version of granite, is called felsite or
rhyolite. And there is a suite of ultramafic rocks with even more dark minerals and even less silica than basalt. 

Where Igneous Rocks Are Found

The deep sea floor (the oceanic crust) is made of basaltic rocks, with ultramafic rocks underneath. Basalts are also erupted above the Earth's
great subduction zones, either in volcanic island arcs or along the edges of continents. However, continental magmas tend to be less basaltic
and more granitic.

The continents are the exclusive home of granitic rocks. Nearly everywhere on the continents, no matter what rocks are on the surface, you
can drill down and reach granite eventually. In general, granitic rocks are less dense than basaltic rocks, and thus the continents actually float
higher than the oceanic crust on top of the ultramafic rocks of the Earth's mantle. The behavior and histories of granitic rock bodies are
among geology's deepest and most intricate mysteries.

Metamorphism

The Four Agents of Regional Metamorphism

Heat and pressure usually work together, because both rise as you go deeper in the Earth. The clay minerals of sedimentary rocks, in
particular, respond to high temperatures and pressures. Clays are surface minerals, which form as feldspar and mica break down in the
conditions at the Earth's surface.

With heat and pressure they slowly return to mica and feldspar. Thus the sedimentary rock shale metamorphoses first into slate, then into
phyllite, then schist. The mineral quartz does not change under high temperature and pressure, although it becomes more strongly cemented
as the sedimentary rock sandstone turns to quartzite. Intermediate rocks that mix sand and clay — mudstones — metamorphose into gneiss.
The sedimentary rock limestone recrystallizes and becomes marble. 

Fluids are the most important agent of metamorphism. Every rock contains some water, but sedimentary rocks hold the most. First there is
the water that was trapped in the sediment as it became rock. Second is the water that is liberated by clay minerals as they change back to
feldspar and mica. This water can become so charged with dissolved materials that the resulting fluid is no less than a liquid mineral. It may
be acidic or alkaline, full of silica (forming chalcedony) or full of sulfides or carbonates or metals, in endless variety. Fluids tend to wander
away from their birthplaces, interacting with rocks elsewhere. That process, the interaction of rock with chemically active fluids, is called
metasomatism. 

Strain refers to any change in the shape of rocks due to the force of stress. As fluids form and move in buried rocks, new minerals grow with
their grains oriented according to the direction of pressure. Where the strain makes the rock stretch (shear strain), these minerals form
layers. In most metamorphic rocks the layers are made of mica. The presence of mineral layers is called foliation and is important to observe
when identifying a metamorphic rock. As strain increases, the foliation becomes more intense, and the mineral sort themselves into thicker
layers. That's what gives schist and gneiss their foliation. 

Metamorphism can be so intense, with all four factors acting at their extreme range, that the foliation can be warped and stirred like taffy,
and the result is called migmatite. With further metamorphism, rocks can be turned into something hard to tell from plutonic granites. These
kinds of rocks give joy to experts because of what they say about deep-seated conditions during things like plate collisions. The rest of us can
only admire the laboratory skills needed to make sense of such rocks. 
What I've described is how regional metamorphism affects sedimentary rocks. Igneous rocks give rise to a different set of minerals and
metamorphic rock types; these include serpentinite, blueschist, greenschist and other rarer species such as eclogite. If you're a mineral
collector it's worth your while to learn about these, but they aren't found in most parts of the world. 

Contact or Local Metamorphism

A lesser type of metamorphism, important in specific localities, is contact metamorphism. This usually occurs near igneous intrusions, where
hot magma forces itself into sedimentary strata. The rocks next to the lava invasion are baked into hornfels, another subject for specialists.
Lava can rip chunks of country rock off the channel wall and turn them into exotic minerals, too. 

Underground coal fires can also cause mild contact metamorphism of the same degree as occurs when baking bricks.

MINERALS

Geologists know about thousands of minerals locked in rocks, but when rocks are exposed at the surface and weather away, less than 10
minerals remain. They are the ingredients of sediment, which in turn becomes sedimentary rock. When the mountains crumble to the sea, all
of their rocks, whether igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic, break down. Physical or mechanical weathering reduces the rocks to small
particles. These break down further by chemical weathering in water and oxygen. A very small number of minerals can resist indefinitely:
zircon is one and native gold is another. Quartz resists for a very long time, which is why sand, being nearly pure quartz, is so persistent, but
given enough time even quartz dissolves into silicic acid, H4SiO4. 

But most of the silicate minerals produce solid residues after chemical weathering. Silicate residues are what make up the minerals of the
Earth's land surface. 

The olivine, pyroxenes and amphiboles of igneous or metamorphic rocks react with water and leave behind rusty iron hydroxides. These are
an important ingredient in soils but uncommon as solid minerals. They also add brown and red colors to sedimentary rocks. 

Feldspar, the most common silicate mineral group and the main home of aluminum in minerals, reacts with water too. Water pulls out silicon
and other major cations (positive ions) except for aluminum. The feldspar minerals thus turn into hydrated aluminosilicates—that is, clays.
Amazing Clays 

Clay minerals are not much to look at, but life on Earth depends on them. At the microscopic level, clays are tiny flakes, like mica but
infinitely smaller. At the molecular level, clay is a sandwich made of sheets of silica (SiO4) tetrahedra and sheets of magnesium or aluminum
hydroxide (Mg(OH)2 and Al(OH)3). Some clays are a proper three-layer sandwich, a Mg/Al layer between two silica layers, while others are
open-face sandwiches of two layers. 

What makes clays so valuable for life is that with their tiny particle size and open-faced construction, they have very large surface areas and
can readily accept many substitute cations for their Si, Al and Mg atoms. Oxygen and hydrogen are available in abundance. From the
viewpoint of microbes, clay minerals are like machine shops full of tools and power hookups. Indeed, even the building blocks of life—amino
acids and other organic molecules—are enlivened by the energetic, catalytic environment of clays. 

The Makings of Clastic Rocks 

But back to sediments. With quartz and clay, the overwhelming majority of surface minerals, we have the ingredients of mud. Mud is what
geologists call a sediment that is a mixture of particle sizes ranging from sand (visible) to clay (invisible), and the world's rivers steadily
deliver mud to the sea and to large lakes and inland basins. That is where the clastic sedimentary rocks are born, sandstone and mudstone
and shale in all their variety. 

The Chemical Precipitates 

When the mountains were crumbling, much of their mineral content dissolved. This material reenters the rock cycle in other ways than clay,
precipitating out of solution to form other surface minerals. 

Calcium is an important cation in igneous rock minerals, but it plays little part in the clay cycle. Instead calcium remains in water, where it
affiliates with carbonate ion (CO3). When it becomes concentrated enough in seawater, calcium carbonate comes out of solution as calcite.
Living organisms can extract it to build their calcite shells, which also become sediment. 

Where sulfur is abundant, calcium combines with it as the mineral gypsum. In other settings, sulfur captures dissolved iron and precipitates
as pyrite. 

There is also sodium left over from the breakdown of the silicate minerals. That lingers in the sea until circumstances dry up the brine to a
high concentration, when sodium joins chloride to yield solid salt, or halite. And what of the dissolved silicic acid? That precipitates
underground, from deeply buried fluids, as the silica mineral chalcedony. Thus every part of the mountains finds a new place in the Earth. 

Minerals, Gemstones & Mineral Resources

What Is a Mineral?

A mineral is any substance with all of four specific qualities. 

1. Minerals Are Natural: substances that form without any human help.
2. Minerals Are Solid: substances that don't droop or melt or evaporate.
3. Minerals Are Inorganic: substances that aren't carbon compounds like those found in living things.
4. Minerals Are Crystalline: substances that have a distinct recipe and arrangement of atoms.
Unnatural Minerals

Until the 1990s, mineralogists could propose names for chemical compounds that formed during the breakdown of artificial substances, things
found in places like industrial sludge pits and rusting cars (although iron rust is the same as the natural minerals hematite, magnetite and
goethite). That loophole is now closed, but there are minerals on the books that aren't truly natural. 

Soft Minerals

Traditionally, native mercury is considered a mineral, even though the metal is liquid at room temperature. At about 40 degrees below zero,
mercury solidifies and forms crystals like other metals. So there are parts of Antarctica where mercury is unimpeachably a mineral. 

For a less extreme example, consider the mineral ikaite, a hydrated calcium carbonate that forms only in cold water. It degrades into calcite
and water above 8 degrees Celsius. It is significant in the polar regions, the ocean floor and other cold places, but you can't bring it into the
lab except in a freezer. 

Ice is a mineral, even though it isn't listed in the mineral field guide. But when ice collects in large enough bodies, it flows in its solid
state€”that's what glaciers are. And salt (halite) behaves similarly, rising underground in broad domes and sometimes spilling out in salt
glaciers. Indeed, all minerals, and the rocks they are part of, slowly deform given enough heat and pressure. That's what makes plate
tectonics possible. So in a sense, no mineral is really solid except maybe diamond. 

Other minerals that aren't quite solid are instead flexible. The mica minerals are the best-known example, but molybdenite is another. Its
metallic flakes can be crumpled like aluminum foil. And of course the asbestos mineral chrysotile is stringy enough to weave into cloth. 

Organic Minerals

The rule that minerals must be inorganic may be the strictest one. The substances that make up coal, for instance, are different kinds of
hydrocarbon compounds derived from cell walls, wood, pollen and so on. These are called macerals instead of minerals (for more see Coal in
a Nutshell). But if coal is squeezed hard enough for long enough, the carbon sheds all its other elements and becomes graphite. Even though
it is of organic origin, graphite is a true mineral, carbon atoms arranged in sheets. Diamond, similarly, is carbon atoms arranged in a rigid
framework. After some 4 billion years of life on Earth, it's safe to say that all the world's diamonds and graphite are of organic origin even if
they aren't strictly speaking organic. 

Amorphous Minerals

A few things fall short in crystallinity, hard as we try. Many minerals form crystals that are too small to see under the microscope. But even
these can be shown to be crystalline at the nano-scale using the technique of X-ray powder diffraction, though, because X-rays are a super-
short-wave type of light that can image extremely small things. 

Having a crystal form means that the substance has a definite recipe, or chemical formula. It might be as simple as halite's (NaCl) or complex
like, say, epidote (Ca2Al2(Fe3+,Al)(SiO4)(Si2O7)O(OH)), but if you were shrunk to an atom's size, you could tell what mineral you were
seeing by its molecular makeup and arrangement. 

But a few substances fail the X-ray test. They are truly glasses or colloids, with a fully random structure at the atomic scale. They are
amorphous, scientific Latin for "formless." These get the honorary name mineraloid.

Mineraloids are a small club: strictly speaking it includes only opal and lechatelierite. Opal is a nearly random combination of silica (SiO2, the
same as quartz) and water formed under near-surface conditions, while lechatelierite is a quartz glass formed by the shock of a meteorite
impact or lightning striking the ground. 

Other substances considered mineraloids include the gemstones jet and amber, which are respectively high-quality fossils of coal and tree
resin. Pearl goes here too, although I disagree because by that logic, seashells should be included. The last mineraloid is rather like the rusty
car I mentioned earlier: limonite is a mixture of iron oxides that, while it may assume the shape of a proper iron-oxide mineral, has no
structure or order whatever. 
10 Steps to Mineral Identification
The first thing to do is to observe and test your mineral. Use the largest piece you can find, and if you have several pieces, make sure sure
that they are all the same mineral.

Examine your mineral for all of the following properties, writing down the answers. After that you'll be ready to take your
information to the right place.
Step 1: Pick Your Mineral

Step 2: Luster

Luster is the way a mineral reflects light and the first key step in mineral identification. Look for luster on a fresh surface. The three major
types of luster are metallic, glassy (vitreous) and dull. A luster between metallic and glassy is called adamantine, and a luster between glassy
and dull is called resinous or waxy.

Step 3: Hardness

Use the 10-point Mohs hardness scale. The important hardnesses are between 2 and 7. For this you'll need your fingernail (hardness about
2), a coin (hardness 3), a knife or nail (hardness 5.5) and a few key minerals.

Step 4: Color

Color is important in mineral identification, but it can be a complicated subject. Experts use color all the time because they have learned the
usual colors and the usual exceptions for common minerals. If you're a beginner, pay close attention to color but do not rely on it. First of all,
be sure you aren't looking at a weathered or tarnished surface, and examine your specimen in good light. 

Color is a fairly reliable indicator in the opaque and metallic minerals—for instance the blue of the opaque mineral lazurite or the brass-yellow
of the metallic mineral pyrite. 

In the translucent or transparent minerals, color is usually the result of a chemical impurity and should not be the only thing you use.

For instance, pure quartz is clear or white, but quartz can have many other colors. 

Try to be precise with color. Is it a pale or deep shade? Does it resemble the color of another common object, like bricks or blueberries? Is it
even or mottled? Is there one pure color or a range of shades? 
10 Steps to Mineral Identification
The first thing to do is to observe and test your mineral. Use the largest piece you can find, and if you have several pieces, make sure sure
that they are all the same mineral.

Examine your mineral for all of the following properties, writing down the answers. After that you'll be ready to take your
information to the right place.

Step 1: Pick Your Mineral

Step 2: Luster

Luster is the way a mineral reflects light and the first key step in mineral identification. Look for luster on a fresh surface. The three major
types of luster are metallic, glassy (vitreous) and dull. A luster between metallic and glassy is called adamantine, and a luster between glassy
and dull is called resinous or waxy.

Step 3: Hardness

Use the 10-point Mhos hardness scale. The important hardness is between 2 and 7. For this you'll need your fingernail (hardness about 2), a
coin (hardness 3), a knife or nail (hardness 5.5) and a few key minerals.

Step 4: Color

Color is important in mineral identification, but it can be a complicated subject. Experts use color all the time because they have learned the
usual colors and the usual exceptions for common minerals. If you're a beginner, pay close attention to color but do not rely on it. First of all,
be sure you aren't looking at a weathered or tarnished surface, and examine your specimen in good light. 

Color is a fairly reliable indicator in the opaque and metallic minerals—for instance the blue of the opaque mineral lazurite or the brass-yellow
of the metallic mineral pyrite. 

In the translucent or transparent minerals, color is usually the result of a chemical impurity and should not be the only thing you use.
For instance, pure quartz is clear or white, but quartz can have many other colors. 

Try to be precise with color. Is it a pale or deep shade? Does it resemble the color of another common object, like bricks or
blueberries? Is it even or mottled? Is there one pure color or a range of shades?
Step 8: Magnetism

Magnetism is a distinctive property in a few minerals. Magnetite is the prime example, but a few other minerals may be weakly attracted by a
magnet, notably chromite (a black oxide) and pyrrhotite (a bronze sulfide). Use a strong magnet. The magnets I use came from the corners
of an old plastic shower curtain. Another way to test magnetism is to see if the specimen attracts a compass needle.

Step 9: Other Mineral Properties

Taste is definitive for halite (rock salt), of course, but a few other evaporite minerals also have distinctive tastes. Just touch your tongue to a
fresh face of the mineral and be ready to spit—after all it's called taste, not flavor. Don't worry about taste if you don't live in an area with
these minerals. 

Fizz means the effervescent reaction of certain carbonate minerals to the acid test. For this test, vinegar will do. Heft is how heavy a mineral
feels in the hand, an informal sense of density. Most rocks are about three times as dense as water, that is, they have a specific gravity of
about 3. Make note of a mineral that is noticeably light or heavy for its size.

Step 10: Look It Up

Now you are ready for mineral identification. Once you have observed and noted these mineral properties, you can take your information to a
book or to an online resource. Start with my table of the rock-forming minerals, because these are the most common and the ones you
should learn first. Each mineral's name is linked to a good photograph and notes to help you confirm the identification.

If your mineral has metallic luster, go to my Minerals with Metallic Luster gallery to see the most likely minerals in this group. If your mineral
is not one of these, try the sources in the Mineral Identification Guides category.