Geology

• What is a mineral?

• What is a gem?

• What is a rock?

• How are these formed?

• Edited from WARDS

Geometry of Crystals Lab
 Mineral Criteria
1. occurs naturally on Earth
Mining: Dig for Diamonds Park

2. is inorganically formed ( does not contain

carbon) Exceptions are diamonds and
graphite = pure carbon
 Criteria continued
3. a solid at standard temp and pressure

4. Elements that make up the substance are

combined in fixed proportions

5. The orderly arrangement of atoms that

make up the substance produce a definite
and repeating geometric pattern =
characteristic crystal form
 Minerals
Is an element (ex. Gold, Au)
or a compound (ex. Quarts or
pyrite FeS ) found naturally in
2

rocks and soils

There are more than 3500

minerals identified

New minerals are being

found every year
 Periodic Table
• 8 elements account for 98%of Earth’s
crust

• These elements combine to form minerals

Oxygen Silicon Aluminum
Iron Calcium Sodium
Potassium Magnesium
 Mineral Identification
• Based on physical and chemical traits
• Initially classified using one or more of the
following physical properties
• 1. color 5. specific gravity
• 2. luster 6. cleavage or
• 3. hardness fracture
• 4. streak 7. crystal form
 Color
• Least reliable trait

• Color can vary

• Color can change

when exposed to
moisture, high or low
temperatures or
weathering
Luster
• Physical appearance
of the unweathered
surface

• Way it reflects
sunlight

• Metallic or
nonmetallic (glassy,
pearly, silky, greasy
or brilliant)
 Hardness
• Is the resistance of a mineral’s smooth
surface (face) to being scratched by a
point or an edge

• Mohs Hardness Scale has a range

• 1 (soft, easily scratched – ex. Talc) to
• 10 (hard – ex. Diamond)

• Any mineral can scratch a mineral with a

lower hardness
• Tools for Testing Hardness
• You typically do not carry around a
supply of the 10 minerals on the hardness
scale. However, you can use the following
items to help estimate the hardness of a
mineral:
• Finger Nail (H = 2.5)
• Penny (H = 3)
• Knife Blade (H = 5.5)
• http://zircon.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/aaim/line
ar/L1.html
 Streak
• Color of a mineral in its ground or powdered
form

• The powder is formed when the mineral is

rubbed across an unglazed porcelain plate

• More reliable than color

• Plate has a hardness of 7 and is white

• Scratch test cannot be used on minerals of the

same color or hardness
 Specific Gravity (Relative Density)
• Specific gravity is the ratio of a mineral’s
mass to the mass of an equal volume
water.
• Very reliable
 Cleavage or Fracture
Cleavage: a break along a smooth, flat
plane producing smooth flat surfaces
called faces
Ex. Galena

Fracture: a break that is not smooth but

produces irregular surfaces
Ex. Quarts
 Crystal Form
• One of the most useful physical
characteristics

• Crystal forms result from the internal

atomic arrangement of a mineral

• Repetition of these arrangements results

in crystal systems which produce the
visible shape of the mineral
 Pyrite : “Fool’s Gold”
• FeS2

• Is the result of many atoms of iron and

sulfur forming a crystalline solid with a
definite internal arrangement
All crystals can be categorized into
1 of 6 crystal systems
• As defined by axes
• Axes are imaginary straight lines that pass
through the center of the crystal faces at
right angles to these faces and intersect
at the center of a perfect crystal
 Isometric or Cubic
Characteristics
• 3 equal exes intersecting
at right angles to each
other
• Same measure
• 6 faces
• Each face is a square
• Angle between two
adjacent sides is 90o
• Ex. Galena, halite, pyrite
 Hexagonal
• Four axes
• 3 of the 4 intersect at 60o
angles to others in the
same plane
• 4th axis intersects the
other 3 at a 90o angle
• Each of the similar 6
faces join each other at
60o
• 2 more identical faces are
different form the other 6
• 2 identical faces form 90o
with the other 6
• Ex. Calcite, quartz and
apatite
Tetragonal
• All 3 axis intersect at
90o
• 2 of the 3 axis are of
equal length
• Four identical often
rectangular faces and
two square faces
• All adjacent faces hit
at 90o
• Ex. Chalcopyrite,
zircon
Orthorhombic
• 3 axis intersect at 90o
• None of the axis are
equal length
• Four of the faces form
similar rectangles
• 2 of the other faces
are similar rectangles
but different from the
first 4
• All adjacent sides
meet at 90o
• Ex. Olivine, silfur,
topaz
 Monoclinic
• 3 axes none of equal
length
• Only 2 axes intersect at
90o
• 4 identical or similar faces
• 2 identical faces unlike
the first 4
• 6 sided prism
• Faces meet at 90o and
other angles
• Ex. Mica, gypsum,
orthoclase, hornblende
 Triclinic
• 3 unequal axes
• None of the axes
intersect at 90o
• Four similar or identical
polygons and 2 larger
similar or identical
polygons different form
the first 4
• None of the faces
intersect at 90o
• Ex. feldspars
 Gems
• A gemstone or gem, also called a precious or semi-
precious stone, is a piece of attractive mineral, which —
when cut and polished — is used to make jewelry or
other adornments.[1] However certain rocks, (such as
lapis-lazuli) and organic materials (such as amber or jet)
are not minerals, but are still used for jewelry, and are
therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most
gemstones are hard, but some soft minerals are used in
jewelry because of their lustre or other physical
properties that have aesthetic value. Rarity is another
characteristic that lends value to a gemstone.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemstone
 Rocks (more info to come) 
Rocks are classified by mineral and chemical
composition, by the texture of the constituent
particles and by the processes that formed them.
These indicators separate rocks into igneous,
sedimentary and metamorphic. They are further
classified according to particle size. The
transformation of one rock type to another is
described by the geological model called the
rock cycle.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_(geology)
 Mining

http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2005/08/worlds-
largest-diamond-mine.html