Manila Bay Sands

Limestone formations in
Puerto Princesa, Palawan
Limestone formations in
Puerto Princesa, Palawan
Limestone formations in
Puerto Princesa, Palawan
Limestone formations in
Coron, Palawan
MINERALS AND
ROCKS
 At the end of this lesson,
you should be able to:
01 Identify the examples of minerals;

Establish relationships between rock types and the

02 origin and environment of deposition/formation

Understand the different geologic processes involved

03 in rock formation
Minerals
MINERALS
• Minerals are building block of rocks
• They are naturally occurring, inorganic solids that have an orderly crystalline internal
structure and a definite chemical composition.
CRITERIA IN IDENTIFYING MINERALS
✓ NATURALLY OCCURRING – Not synthetic or human-made
✓ INORGANIC – Not derived from living matter
✓ SOLID
CRITERIA IN IDENTIFYING MINERALS
✓ HAS AN ORDERLY CRYSTALLINE INTERNAL STRUCTURE – the atoms are arranged in
systematic and repeating pattern
✓ HAS A DEFINITE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION – May be either pure element or a compound
CRYSTAL
✓ A piece of a homogeneous solid substance
having a naturally geometrically regular
form with symmetrically arranged plane
faces.
MINERAL OR NOT?
• Diamond
• Coal
• Steel
• Petroleum
• Ice
Properties of
Minerals
LUSTER
• Appearance of light that is reflected from the surface of a mineral.
LUSTER
• METALLIC – generally opaque and
exhibit resplendent shine similar to a
polished metal
LUSTER
• NON-METALLIC – vitreous (glassy),
adamantine (brilliant/diamond-like),
resinous, silky, pearly, dull (earthy)
greasy, among others.
HARDNESS
• Measure of resistance of mineral (not specifically the surface) to abrasion.
• Measured by comparing a mineral with the hardness of other materials with known
hardness using the scratch test.
• Mohs’ Scale of Hardness and Sclerometer Test
MOHS’ SCALE OF HARDNESS
• Initially devised by German
mineralogist Friedrich Mohs in 1812.
MOHS’ SCALE OF HARDNESS
• Measures the scratch resistance of
various minerals from a scale of 1 to
10 based on the ability of a harder
material to scratch another one.
ADVANTAGES OF THE MOHS’ SCALE
• Test is easy
• Can be done anytime, anywhere with sufficient light to see scratches
• Convenient for field geologists for rough identification of materials outside laboratories
DISADVANTAGES OF THE MOHS’ SCALE
• Qualitative, not quantitative
• Cannot accurately test the hardness of industrial materials
ABSOLUTE HARDNESS
• Use Sclerometer
CRYSTAL FORM/HABIT
• The external shape of a crystal or groups of crystals is displayed / observed as these
crystals grow in open spaces.
• The form reflects the supposedly internal structure (of atoms and ions) of the crystal
(mineral). It is the natural shape of the mineral before the development of any
cleavage or fracture.
• Examples: prismatic, tabular, bladed, platy, reniform and equant.
CRYSTAL FORM/HABIT
• Amorphous - A mineral that do not have a crystal structure.
 Malachite Fluorite
-reniform -equant (Box-like)
(rounded, kidney-like surfaces)
 Pyrite Actinolite
Blocky (box-like) Blady (Long thin crystals like a blade of knife)
 Barite
Tabular (like deck of cards)
COLOR AND STREAK
• A lot of minerals can exhibit same or similar colors.
• Individual minerals can also display a variety of colors resulting from impurities and
also from some geologic processes like weathering
• Examples of coloring: quartz can be pink (rose quartz), purple (amethyst), orange
(citrine), white (colorless quartz)
COLOR AND STREAK
• STREAK – color of mineral in powdered form
• It is inherent in almost every mineral and is a more diagnostic property compared to
color.
• Color of mineral can be different from streak.
• Examples of streak: pyrite (FeS2) exhibits gold color but has a black or dark gray
streak.
Pyrite Hematite
Hornblende Biotite Muscovite
CLEAVAGE
• The property of some minerals to break along specific planes of weakness to form
smooth, flat surfaces
• These planes exist because the bonding of atoms making up the mineral happens to
be weak in those areas
CLEAVAGE
• When minerals break evenly in more than one direction, cleavage is described by the
number of cleavage directions, the angle(s) at which they meet, and the quality of
cleavage (e.g. cleavage in 2 directions at 90°)
CLEAVAGE
SPECIFIC GRAVITY
• The ratio of the density of the mineral and the density of water (0.9971 g/mL)
• This parameter indicates how many times more the mineral weighs compared to an
equal amount of water
• Ex. a bucket of silver (SG 10) would weigh ten times more than a bucket of water
OTHER PROPERTIES
• Magnetism, odor, taste, tenacity, reaction to acid, etc.
• Examples: magnetite is strongly magnetic; sulfur has distinctive smell; halite is salty;
calcite fizzes with acid as with dolomite but in powdered form; etc.
OTHER PROPERTIES

Magnetite Sulfur Dolomite

LET’S TRY THIS
Mineral Name Halite (Salt)
Chemical
NaCl
Composition
Luster Non-metallic (vitreous)
Hardness Soft (2-2.5)
Color White
Streak White
Cleavage Cubic (3-directions)
Other properties Salty, highly soluble, red
flame test
MOHS’ SCALE OF HARDNESS
• Measures the scratch resistance of
various minerals from a scale of 1 to
10 based on the ability of a harder
material to scratch another one.