MINERALS
-Building blocks of rocks
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS
-Color – green, blue, yellow or citrine …
-Moh's Relative Hardness Scale
-Cleavage - the tendency to break along a plane
typically, a zone of weak chemical bonds.
-Fracture - the tendency to break in non-planar surfaces
most notable is conchoidal fracture- curved conical shapes
common in quartz.
Crystal habit- the 3-dimensional shape of minerals as they grow- can be
quite spectacular and diagnostic.
Other properties
Streak- the color of the powdered mineral against a white background
Luster- the outer appearance- e.g. metallic and non-metallic such as:
vitreous, resinous, waxy, greasy, pearly, silky, adamantine.
Special properties -taste, smell, reactivity to acids (HCl), magnetism,
pleochroism
Density- the weight per unit volume- a measure of how closely packed
the atoms are.
Common elements in the crust
Silica (Si) - makes silicate minerals with oxygen
Oxygen (O) - makes silicate, oxide, carbonate, sulfate,
minerals when combined with other elements
Aluminum (AL) - a “garbage can” element- in many classes
Iron (Fe) - another “garbage can” element-in many classes
Magnesium (Mg) - another “garbage can” element-in many classes
Calcium (Ca) - contributes to silicate species and
carbonates
Sodium (Na) - contributes to halide and silicates
ROCKS
A rock is a naturally occurring solid mixture of one or more minerals, or
organic matter.
-Igneous rocks – begins as magma
Categories of igneous rocks based on their composition
Felsic: light colored rocks that are rich in elements such as aluminum,
potassium, silicon, and sodium
Mafic: dark colored rocks that are rich in calcium, iron, and magnesium,
poor in silicon
Coarse-grained: takes longer to cool, giving mineral crystals more time
to grow (granite-felsic, gabrro-mafic)
Fine-grained: cools quickly with little to no crystals (rhyolite-felsic,
basalt-mafic)
Types
Intrusive Igneous Rocks: magma pushes into surrounding rock below
the Earth’s surface
Extrusive Rocks: forms when magma erupts onto the Earth’s surface
(lava), cools quickly with very small or no crystals formed
-Sedimentary Rocks - formed by erosion, moved from
one place to another, deposited in layers, with the older ones on the
bottom and layers become compacted and cemented together. Strata –
layers of the rock and stratification – process of sedimentary.
Types
Clastic- made of fragments of rock cemented together with calcite or
quartz(breccia) composed of large angular fragments
Chemical sedimentary – minerals crystallize out of solution to become
rock(limestone) primarily of calcium carbonate from the accumulation of
shell, coral, algal and fecal debris.
Organic sedimentary – remains of plants and animals (coal)
preservation of plant materials, usually in a swamp environment. Fossil
fuels.
-Metamorphic Rock - Meaning to change shape Changes with
temperature and pressure, but remains solid Usually takes place deep
in the Earth
Contact Metamorphism – heated by nearby magma. Increased
temperature changes the composition of the rock, minerals are changed
into new minerals(hornfels)
Regional Metamorphism – pressure builds up in rocks that is deep
within the Earth. Large pieces of the Earth’s crust collide and the rock is
deformed and chemically changed by heat and pressure.
TYPES
Foliated - contain aligned grains of flat minerals (Gneiss)
Non-Foliated – mineral grains are not arranged in plains or bands
(marble)
WEATHERING - the disintegration of rock at or near the Earth's
surface.
Types
- Mechanical Weathering - also called physical weathering and
disaggregation, causes rocks to crumble. Rocks breaks into
pieces. Affect mechanical weathering are; temperature, frost
wedging and biological activity.
- Chemical weathering - involves the interaction of rock with
mineral solutions (chemicals) to change the composition of
rocks. Example oxidation the oxygen and metal.
Factors influencing weathering (mineral makeup, climate and differential
weathering)
SOIL – is the layer of rock and mineral fragments. Components are;
humus, water, decomposed rocks and air.
Parts of soil
Organic - The organic layer (also called the humus layer) is a thick layer
of plant remains such as leaves and twigs.
Topsoil - Topsoil is considered the "A" horizon. It is a fairly thin layer (5
to 10 inches thick) composed of organic matter and minerals. This layer
is the primary layer where plants and organisms live.
Subsoil - Subsoil is considered the "B" horizon. This layer is made
primarily of clay, iron, and organic matter which accumulated through a
process called illuviation.
Parent material - The parent material layer is considered the "C"
horizon. This layer is called the parent material because the upper
layers developed from this layer. It is made up mostly of large rocks.
Bedrock - The bottom layer is several feet below the surface. The
bedrock is made up of a large solid mass of rock.
Soil erosion - occurs when the impact of water or wind detaches and
removes soil particles, causing the soil to deteriorate.
Mass wasting - Refers to the down slope movement of rock and soil
under the influence of gravity.
Types
Flow - occurs when material moves down alopes as a viscous fluid
(liquidy).
A slide occurs when the materials remain coherent and moves along a
well define surface.
Falls Involve the free fall of debris or rock
RUNNING WATER AND GROUND WATER
Evaporation - liquid water gains enough energy to become water vapor,
water evaporates from the oceans to a lesser extent the continents
Precipitation - rain or snow falls to the Earth
Transpiration - water absorbed by plants is released to the atmosphere
Infiltration - the movement of surface water into rock or soil through
cracks and pore spaces
Run-off - excess precipitation flows into streams, rivers and lakes
Running water – represents the single most important
agent sculpturing our planet's landscapes.
Stream - A natural body of running water flowing on or under the earth.
WASTE WATER TREATMENT BASICS
Waste - waste material that includes industrial liquid waste and sewage
waste that is collected in towns and urban areas.
Three stages in the treatment of wastes
-Primary Treatment - Solids are allowed to settle and removed from
wastewater.
Bar Screen- removes large floating objects that might clog pipes or
damage equipment.
Grit tank- where cinders, sand, and small stones settle to the bottom.
Sedimentation/settling tank- allows suspended particles to settle out of
water or wastewater as it flows slowly through the tank, thereby
providing some degree of purification.
-Secondary Treatment -Removes about 85 percent of the organic
matter in sewage by making use of the bacteria in it.
Aeration tank - where it is mixed with air and sludge loaded with
bacteria and allowed to remain for several hours.
Clarifier- where activated sludge settle out to produce along with the
sludge in the primary treatment process.
-Tertiary Treatment - Disinfection Process (chlorine, ultraviolet light or
ozone) The removal of excess chlorine before discharge to surface
waters by a process called dichlorination.
GLACIERS, DESERTS AND WIND
Glacier - is a large, perennial accumulation of crystalline ice, snow, rock,
sediment.
Ice age – earth was covered by ice
Valley glacier – flows between steep rock
Ice sheets – ice masses that flow in all directions
Glacial flow in plastic flow – movement within the ice and basal slip ice
mass actually slips downhill due to gravity.
Zone of fracture – upper most zone does not have plasticity is brittle.
Zone of accumulation – above the snowline
Zone of wastage – glacier below the snowline is where the glacier
melts.
Glacier budget – balance snow ice accumulated and amount of loss at
the glacier foot.
Erode in two ways: plucking – rocks are broken loose form under the
glacier. Abrasion – load of rock and ice combined acts like sandpaper
as it slides over the surface.
Erosional landscape features
Glacial troughs- U shape
Hanging valleys – u shaped that are deeper than the those carved by
smaller side glaciers that feed into the main glacier.
Cirque – bowl shaped depression at the head glacial
Aretes – sharp edged ridges
Horns- pyramid shaped peaks
Depositional features
Lateral moraines – ridges form side of glacial valleys.
End moraine- glacier stationary for long period of time.
Ground moraines – glacier begin to recede.
Terminal moraines – farthest end moraine created in this pattern of
stopping and retreating.
DESERT
- It is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs
and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and
animal life.
VOLCANOES and Volcanic Eruption
VOLCANO – volcanus – openings, rupture, vent, two tectonic plates
come together.
Crater - funnel-shaped opening at the top of a volcano while a caldera is
formed when a part of the wall collapses.
Types of Volcanic Formations
Cinder cone volcano - They have a steep slope, wide crater and are the
most abundant of the three major volcano types.
Paricutin Volcano of Mexico and Mauna Kea of Hawaii.
Composite Volcanoes (Stratovolcanoes) - large, nearly perfect sloped
structure, formed and built up by many layers of alternate solidification
of both lava and pyroclastic deposits (tephra).
Mount Fuji of Japan and Mt. Mayon Volcano of Philippines
Shield Volcanoes - broad volcano with sloping sides that is formed
mainly out of runny lava. Mauna Loa of Hawaii and Erta Ale of Ethiopia.
Classifications Volcanoes
Active volcano- are those that have a record of eruption within the last
600 years or those that erupted 10, 000 years ago based on analyses of
their materials. Hawaii is the home of the most active volcanoes in the
world. (e.g. Kilauea, Mauna Loa, and Mauna Kea)
Inactive volcano - otherwise known as “dormant” volcanoes
are those that have not erupted for the last 10, 000 years and their
physical form is being changed by agents of weathering and erosion
through formation of deep and long gullies. Mount Fuji of Japan and
Mount Kilimanjaro of Tanzania, Africa.
Types of Volcanic Eruptions
-Magmatic eruptions produce juvenile clasts during explosive
decompression from gas release. Effusive eruptions are dominated by
passive emission of lava. Explosive eruptions are dominated by eruption
of fragmental (pyroclastic) material
-Phreatomagmatic Eruptions - It is a violent eruption due to the contact
between water and magma.
-Phreatic Eruptions - or hydrothermal is a stream-driven eruption as the
hot rocks come in contact with water.
EARTHQUAKE: MYTHS AND PREDICTION
Earthquake - means to shake or vibrate from shock or instability.
release or an extreme release of energy from the Earth's crust resulting
in shaking. The waves are seismic waves
Parts of earthquake
1. Focus- the point where the earthquake starts. It is also called as
hypocenter.
2. Epicenter- the point at the ground level directly above the focus.
3. Fault- A fault is a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of
rock. Faults allow the blocks to move relative to each other.
4. Seismic Wave- it tells/shows the movement from the ground Earth's
surface.
3 types of fault
- Normal fault - the fault has moved downward relative to the
block below.
- Reverse (thrust) - fault - a dip-slip fault in which the upper
block, above the fault plane, moves up and over the lower
block.
- Strike-slip fault - a fault on which the two blocks slide past one
another.
2 Ways to Measure an Earthquake
- Magnitude – energy of seismic wave by the used of
seismograph.
- Intensity - measures the strength of shaking.
2 Types of an Earthquake
- Tectonic earthquakes are produced by sudden movement along faults
and plate boundaries.
- Volcanic earthquakes induced by rising lava or magma beneath active
volcanoes.
Categories of Hazard of an Earthquake
- Primary hazards - are caused by the direct interaction of
seismic wave energy with the ground. Ground shaking, ground
rupture/surface
- Secondary hazards - are caused as a consequence of that
ground shaking, such as liquefaction, landslides and rock falls,
tsunamis, floods, and fires. Liquefaction, Earthquake Induced-
landslides, tsunami, flooding, fire.
Hazards in volcanic eruption
PYROCLASTIC FLOWS
- is a fast-moving current of hot gas or hot chaotic mixture of rock
fragments, gas, and ash that travels rapidly.
GEOLOGICAL Hazards in volcanic eruption
2. PYROCLASTIC SURGES - is a fluidized mass of turbulent gas and
rock fragments that is ejected during some volcanic eruption.
- are low density flows of pyroclastic material.
3. BALLISTIC PROJECTILES
Ballistic projectiles are rocks that an erupting volcano may hurl into
the air
4. LAVA FLOWS
Lava flows consist of molten (melted) rock that streams down the
slope of a volcano, destroying everything in its path and possibly
causing forest fires (as is typical of Hawaiian volcanoes).
5. ASH FALL
-a rain of airborne ash resulting from a volcanic eruption.
. - It consists of powder-sized to sand size that have been blown into the
air by an erupting volcano.
6. LAHARS
These are mixtures of volcanic water and rock fragments which rush
down the slopes of a volcano and into the surrounding valleys.
7. volcano gases - become dissolved in atmospheric clouds to produce
acid rain and mist which affect human and animal eyes and respiratory
systems and corrode metal building materials.
8. LATERAL BLASTS
Lateral blasts are horizontally-directed clouds of gases and extremely
hot rock particles that explode outwards at very high speeds from the
volcano.
9. DEBRIS AVALANCHES - are moving masses of rock and soil that
occur when the flank of a mountain or volcano collapses and slides
downslope. Debris avalanches may travel several kilometers before
coming to rest, or they may transform into more water-rich lahars, which
travel many tens of kilometers downstream.
10. LIGHTNING STRIKES
Lightning strikes may occur during volcanic eruptions as a result of
friction between ash, rock fragments, steam and gases in the eruption
cloud.
GEOLOGICAL Hazards in volcanic eruption –
11. TSUNAMIS
These are sea waves which can be generated by several events
including large earthquakes or submarine volcanic eruption
SEISMIC WAVES - wave of acoustic energy that travels through the
Earth. It is a result from an earthquake, volcanic eruption, magma
movement, a large landslide, and a large man-made explosion that
produces low-frequency acoustic energy.
2 types of seismic wave
- Body waves - travel inside of the inner layers of the Earth.
A. Primary wave (P) - travel inside of the inner layers of the
Earth. Longitudinal wave
B. Secondary wave (P) - shake the ground in a shearing or
crosswise motion that is perpendicular to the direction of
travel
- Surface waves - are of a lower frequency than body waves and
easily distinguished on a seismogram as a result.
a. Love Waves (L-Wave) - Have horizontal motion the
surface from side-to-side perpendicular to the direction the
wave is travelling. Love waves travel with a lower velocity
than P or S waves, but faster than Rayleigh waves.
b. Rayleigh wave - These waves are a type of surface
acoustic wave that travel on solids and caused the ground
to shake in elliptical pattern/motion on surface because of
the combination of longitudinal compression and dilation.