Lesson 2:

Rocks and
Minerals

Prepared by:
SHERIE MAE Q. LOZADA, RN, LPT
Minerals are the
ingredients of rocks.

Or

Rocks are made up of

minerals.
GRANITE mineral composition
 WHAT IS A
MINERAL?
naturally occurring,
inorganic elements or
compounds with
specific physical and
chemical properties.
Properties of minerals
are used to identify minerals
Physical Properties
1. Color
Color is usually the
property used to
identify minerals. It
is the product of the
way minerals attract
light.
Color is the least useful property.
Why?
A B
Color is the least useful property.
Why?
A B
Color is the least useful property.
Why?
Fool’s Gold “Fool’s Gold” is technically
known as pyrite or iron
sulfide (FeS2) and is one of
the most common
sulfide minerals.
 Augite

Brown
Green
Black
Purple
Calcite

Pearlescent
Pale colors
Translucent/
transparent
Feldspar

Yellow
White
Pink
Green
Gray
2. Streak
-the color of the minerals powder
 3. Hardness

is the measurement
of the mineral’s
resistance to
scratching.

Frederick Mohs (1773-1839)

German Minerologist
Scratch test

If mineral A can
scratch mineral B,
what does that tell
us about the relative
hardness of each
mineral?
4. Cleavage and Fracture
are methods used to describe how minerals break down into pieces
 Fracture Cleavage
Mineral breaks unevenly The tendency of a Mineral to
or irregularly break evenly along its weakest
plane.
Cleavage
Cleavage
 5. Crystalline Structure
Some minerals tend to form crystals that aid in the
identification of the mineral.
 6. Transparency
Transparency or diaphaneity indicates the amount of
light that can pass through mineral
 7. Magnetism
is the ability of a mineral to attract or repel other minerals.
8. Tenacity
is the intensity of resistance or
reaction of minerals to stress
such crushing, bending,
breaking, or tearing. It can tell if
a mineral is brittle, malleable,
elastic etc.
9. Luster

refers to the reaction of a

mineral to light
It defines how brilliant or
dull the mineral is.
9. Luster

Metallic

Non-metallic
10. Odor and taste
Odor is a distinct smell of a
mineral that is usually
released from a chemical
reaction when subjected to
water, heat, air, or friction.
Water-soluble minerals often
have a characteristic taste.
11. Specific Gravity
Chemical Properties
1. Silicate Class
• Minerals that contain a combination of silicon and oxygen.
Silicon-oxygen tetrahedron
The basic structural unit of silicate minerals
2. Carbonate Class
mostly deposited in marine environments
Example: nitrate and borate
3. Sulphate Class
• Sulphate class forms in areas with high
evaporation rates and where salty
• waters slowly evaporate.
• Examples: anhydrite, celestine, barite and
gypsum
4. Halide Class
• Halide class contains natural salts. They have relatively low hardness,
may be transparent, have good cleavage, have low specific gravities,
and are poor conductors of heat and electricity.
• Example: fluorite, halite, sylvite and salt ammoniac components
5. Oxide Class
• Oxide Class are formed as precipitates close to Earth’s surface
or as oxidation products of minerals during the process of
weathering
• Example: hematite, gemstones
6. Sulphide class
Sulphide class has important metals such as copper, lead, and silver.
7. Phosphate class
• Phosphate class contain minerals with phosphorus.
8. Native Elements
• Native elements contain metals and intermetallic element.
ROCKS
 ROCKS

Monomineralic Polymineralic
• 1 Mineral • More than 1 Mineral

 Rocks are classified by

how they are formed!!!
Sedimentary Rocks:
1. Clastics
• Rocks that form when sediments (sand, silt etc.)
are lithified.
Processes
• Compacting and cementing
• Vary due to grain size! (see ref tables p. 7)
2. Non-Clastics
A. Organics (bioclastics)
• Form from living things.

Examples: Coal, limestone

B. Chemical (crystaline)
• Formed from the evaporation or precipitation
of sea water.

Examples: Halite, gypsum

 Igneous:
- Form when liquid rock cools and solidifies
Extrusive
Intrusive
• Cools at
below
the Earths
the earths
surface
surface
(quickly!)
(slowwwwly!)

• Magma
Lava
• “Volcanic”
“Plutonic”
The longer the rock takes to cool, the
larger the crystals!

• Cools slow …..Large crystals

• Cools fast …….small crystals
• Cools immediately……NO Crystals (glass)
Vesicular- gas pockets
Metamorphic:
• Rocks that are changed due to extreme
heat and/or pressure.
• DO NOT MELT!!! (they recrystalize)

Metamorphic rocks become…

1. Harder
2. More dense
3. Banded or foliated
4. Distorted
Banding
Foliated
Regional Metamorphism
• Occurs when large areas of rock are
changed.
• Usually deep below the surface where
crustal plates collide.

• The Adirondacks!
Contact Metamorphism
• Occurs when liquid rock comes into
contact with other rocks.
 Identifying Characteristics of Rocks
Igneous Sedimentary
• Intergrown crystals • Cemented fragments
• Glassy texture (sediments)
• Fossils
• Organic material

Metamorphic
•Banding
•Foliated
The Rock Cycle
ASSESSMENT