CHAPTER 2

ROCKS
AND MINERALS
ROCKS
•Our Earth is made up of rocks
•Are made up of minerals
•composed of mineral grains
combined in different ways and
having various properties.
 MINERALS
• are naturally occurring chemical compounds
• are made of elements. Elements are simple
substances that cannot be broken down into
any other substance. 
• has a unique chemical composition and is
necessarily defined by its crystalline structure
and shape.
is an element or compound that is normally
crystalline formed as a result of geological
processes.

Mineraloids- mineral-like substances that

do not strictly meet the definition.

Mineralogy – the study of minerals.

 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF ROCKS-FORMING
MINERAL
Cleavage: The tendency of a
mineral to break (cleave)
along weak planes. Color: Most minerals have a
distinct color while others are
variable in color.
Hardness: A measure of a mineral's resistance to scratching.
This is measured by scratching it against another substance
of known hardness on the Mohs Hardness Scale
Cleavage is the
tendency of a
mineral to break
along smooth
planes parallel to
zones of weak
bonding.
Fracture is the
tendency of a
mineral to break
along curved
surfaces without a
definite shape.
These minerals do
not have planes of
weakness and break
irregularly.
 It results from a
mineral’s chemical The color of a mineral is the first
composition, thing most people notice, but it
impurities that may can also be the least useful in
be present, and identifying a mineral. Most
flaws or damage in minerals occur in more than one
color
the internal
structure.
Luster refers to how light is reflected from the surface of a mineral.
The two main types of luster are metallic and nonmetallic.
What is Metallic Luster?
Minerals exhibiting metallic luster look like metal, such as a silvery
appearance or that of a flat piece of steel.
How many types of nonmetallic luster are there?
•Vitreous: The luster of glass
•Resinous: The luster of resin.
•Pearly: The luster of pearls.
•Greasy: Looks like it is covered in a thin layer of oil.
•Silky: The luster of silk.
•Adamantine: A hard, brilliant luster.
http://www.mineralogy4kids.org/mineral-properties/luster
Pyrite, also known as "Fool's Gold" because of its
brassy-yellow metallic colour, is the most
common sulphide mineral

https://flexiblelearning.auckland.ac.nz/rocks_minerals/minerals/pyrite.html
• Streak is closely
related to color, but Streak Color for a Few
is a different property Common Minerals
because the color of Black - Graphite
the mineral may be Black - Pryite
different than the Black - Magnetite
color of the streak. Black - Chalcopyrite
Streak is actually the Gray - Galena
color of the powder Limonite - Yellow-brown
of a mineral.  Hematite - Red-brown
Specific gravity is the
"heaviness" of a
mineral. Water has a
specific gravity of “1.”
its comparison of its
density to that of water.
http://louisvillefossils.blogspot.com/2011/02/determining-specific-gravity-of.html
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE

There are 14 basic crystal

Is an orderly geometric lattice arrangements of
spatial arrangement of atoms in the three
atoms in the internal dimensions, and these are
structure of a mineral. referred to as the 14 “
Bravais lattices”
 Has two or more minerals that have the
same chemical composition, but they
differ in crystal structure

POLYMORPHS

Example: Diamond and Graphite

ROCK CYCLE

Rock divisions occur in three Each group contains a

major families based on how collection of rock types that
they differ from each other on the
formed: igneous, sedimentary, basis of the size, shape, and
and metamorphic. arrangement of mineral grains.
 Igneous Rocks Sedimentary Rocks

Formed from the cooling and Formed by the compaction and cementation
crystallization of lava of sediments into layers of rock
or magma (molten rock)
• Clastic (rock fragments)
•Intrusive or Extrusive OR
• Nonclastic:
•Mafic or Felsic All rocks • Chemical
• Can be composed of minerals, volcanic • Organic
glass, organic matter, or other materials
• Can be changed
(over geologic time) into another type of
rock
• Recycled

Metamorphic Rocks

Formed by heat and pressure changing

other rocks

•Foliated or non-foliated
 Mineral Resources
Are considered as the Earth’s storage of important and
economically useful minerals that can be mined for human
consumption.
Ore – Is a type of rock
that contains sufficient Ore Deposit – is an
minerals with important accumulation of ore. It is
elements, including one occurrence of a
metals that can be particular ore type.
economically extracted
from the rock.
Earth Processes
Weathering Chemical - Is the Process in
which the internal structure of a
mineral is altered by the removal
and or addition of elements.
Mechanical - Is the
Process of breaking rock
by force.

Biological – Many plants

and animals can weather
rocks.
Erosion
The process of moving sediment from one location to another.

The Agents of Erosion

Kinetic and
Water Volume Potential Energy
Gravity Deposition
Wind Ice (Glaciers)
Deposition
The process of depositing of sediment from one location to
another due to the agents of erosion.

The Agents of Erosion

Kinetic and
Water Volume Potential Energy
Gravity Deposition
Wind Ice (Glaciers)
 Is the downslope movement of rock, regolith, and soil
Mass wasting under the direct influence of gravity.

Gravity is the controlling force of mass wasting.

Other factors that influence or trigger downslope

The type of material movements are saturation of the material with water,
involved. over steepening of slopes beyond the angle of repose,
removal of vegetation, and ground vibrations from
The kind of Motion. earthquakes.

The Rate of Movement. The various processes included under mass wasting
are classified and described on the basis of:
 Volcano and Igneous Activity
Volcanoes are generally found
Volcano can be caused where tectonic plate are pulled
by “mantle plumes”. apart of come together,
These call as
“Hotspots” Atlantic Ridges and Pacific Ring
of Fire
 Earthquake
• Natural event that generates seismic waves from the energy emitted
from a formed fault.
• Energy waves emitted by the earthquake is measured by the
a. Richter Scale (Magnitude)
b. Rossi- Forel Intensity Scale (Intensity)
Magnitude- measures the energy released at the source of the earthquake.
Intensity- measures the strength of shaking produced by the earthquake.
• Seismologist- Geoscientist who study about earthquakes and other
related phenomena.
Metamorphism

is the change of minerals or geologic texture in pre-existing rocks,

without the protolith melting into liquid magma. The change occurs
primarily due to heat, pressure, and the introduction of chemically
active fluids.
 Contact Metamorphism
- occurs adjacent to igneous
intrusions and results from
high temperatures associated
with the igneous intrusion.
Regional Metamorphism
- occurs over large areas and generally does not
show any relationship to igneous bodies.  Most
regional metamorphism is accompanied by
deformation under non-hydrostatic or differential
stress conditions.

Cataclastic Metamorphism
- occurs as a result of mechanical deformation, like
when two bodies of rock slide past one another
along a fault zone.  Heat is generated by the friction
of sliding along such a shear zone, and the rocks
tend to be mechanically deformed, being crushed
and pulverized, due to the shearing.
  Hydrothermal Metamorphism
Rocks that are altered at high temperatures and moderate pressures by
hydrothermal fluids are hydrothermally metamorphosed.  This is
common in basaltic rocks that generally lack hydrous minerals. 

Burial Metamorphism
When sedimentary rocks are buried to depths of several kilometers,
temperatures greater than 300oC may develop in the absence of differential
stress.  New minerals grow, but the rock does not appear to be metamorphosed.

Shock Metamorphism (Impact Metamorphism)

When an extraterrestrial body, such as a meteorite or comet impacts with the Earth
or if there is a very large volcanic explosion, ultrahigh pressures can be generated
in the impacted rock. 
 - Folding and Faulting
occur when pressure
Diastrophic deep within the
lithosphere causes
Processes the Earth’s surface to
buckle, bend and
even split apart.

Folding and Faulting of Rocks

 Types of Fold
• Anticline – The Peak or hill of folded
Folding rock layer.
• Syncline – Through or valley of folded
- Happens when rock layers.
the Earth’s crust is • Tight Fold – A sharp-peaked anticline
fold.
push up from its • Overfold – Bending or warping of
folding rock layers.
sides. It occurs at a • Recumbent fold – A fold that is bent so
very slow rate. much that is no longer vertical.
• Nappe – a fold that has overturned so
much that the rock layers have
fractured.
 Faulting
- Takes place when tension and compression associated with
plate movement is so great that blocks of rock fracture or
break apart
Types of Fault
1. Normal – Rocks move away from each other due to land moving
apart.
2. Rift valley/Graben – Two normal faults occur in parallel to each
other and land between the two fault sinks.
3. Reverse Fault – opposite of normal: rocks are compressed such that
one plate moves up while the other descend below it.
4. Horst – Land rises between parallel faults.
5. Tear fault/strike-slip – two plates slide laterally past each other.
Deformation of the Crust
 Proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912, and
Continent expanded in his 1915 book “The origin of
al Drift Continents and Ocean.”
Theory He suggested that about 200 million years
ago the present continents formed a single
The Apparent Fit of the land mass called “Pangaea”
Continents
Fossil Correlation Pangaea eventually broke up into Laurasia
and Gondwana.
Rock and Mountain Correlation
Paleoclimate Data
 Seafloor
Spreadin In the 1960’s, a gentleman by the name of Harry
Hess proposed that not only are continents
g moving, but the sea floor is also moving.

Mantle convection is Motion of the sea floor in a conveyor belt

the Driving force of the fashion explains the phenomena of the
motion of the sea floor youngest rock being found only at the
and the continents mid-ocean ridges, and the rocks
themselves. progressively move away from the ridges
as they get older.