a.

Rocks and minerals:

A “rock” is an aggregate of one or more minerals while mineral is naturally occurring
Inorganic solid having definite chemical composition, have orderly internal crystal structure.
b. Chemistry of minerals:
More commonly, minerals are described or classified on the basis of their chemical
composition. Although some minerals, such as graphite or diamond, consist primarily of a
single element (in this instance, carbon), most minerals occur as ionic compounds that consist
of orderly arrangements of cations and anions and have a specific crystalline structure
determined by the sizes and charges of the individual ions. Cations (positively charged ions)
are formed by the loss of negatively charged electrons from atoms. Anions consist of a single
element, the atoms of which have become negatively charged via the acquisition of electrons,
or they consist of several elements, the atoms bound together by covalent bonds and bearing
an overall negative charge. Pyrite (FeS2) is a mineral that contains a sulfide ion as its anion.
Gypsum [CaSO4 –2(H2O)] contains the polyatomic anion known as sulfate (SO 4 2−) as well as
two waters of hydration (water molecules that are part of the crystalline structure).
c. Properties of Minerals
The following physical properties of minerals can be easily used to identify a mineral:
1. Color
2. Streak
3. Hardness
4. Cleavage or Fracture
5. Crystalline Structure
6. Diaphaneity or Amount of Transparency
7. Tenacity
8. Magnetism
9. Luster
10. Odor
11. Taste
12. Specific Gravity
1. Color:
Most minerals have a distinctive color that can be used for identification. In opaque minerals,
the color tends to be more consistent, so learning the colors associated with these minerals
can be very helpful in identification.
2. Streak
Streak is the color of the mineral in powdered form. Streak shows the true color of the
mineral. In large solid form, trace minerals can change the color appearance of a mineral by
reflecting the light in a certain way. Trace minerals have little influence on the reflection of
the small powdery particles of the streak.
3. Hardness
Hardness is one of the better properties of minerals to use for identifying a mineral. Hardness
is a measure of the mineral’s resistance to scratching. The Mohs scale is a set of 10 minerals
whose hardness is known. The softest mineral, talc, has a Mohs scale rating of one. Diamond
is the hardest mineral and has a rating of ten. Softer minerals can be scratched by harder
minerals because the forces that hold the crystals together are weaker and can be broken by
the harder mineral.
4. Cleavage & Fracture
Minerals tend to break along lines or smooth surfaces when hit sharply. Different minerals
break in different ways showing different types of cleavage.
Fracture describes the quality of the cleavage surface. Most minerals display either uneven or
grainy fracture, conchoidal (curved, shell-like lines) fracture, or hackly (rough, jagged)
fracture.
5. Crystalline Structure 
Mineral crystals occur in various shapes and sizes. The particular shape is determined by the
arrangement of the atoms, molecules or ions that make up the crystal and how they are
joined. This is called the crystal lattice. There are degrees of crystalline structure, in which
the fibers of the crystal become increasingly difficult or impossible to see with the naked eye
or the use of a hand lens. Microcrystalline and cryptocrystalline structures can only be
viewed using high magnification. If there is no crystalline structure, it is called amorphous.
However, there are very few amorphous crystals and these are only observed under extremely
high magnification.
6. Transparency or Diaphaneity
Diaphaneity is a mineral’s degree of transparency or ability to allow light to pass through it.
The degree of transparency may also depend on the thickness of the mineral.
7. Tenacity
Tenacity is the characteristic that describes how the particles of a mineral hold together or
resist separation. The chart below gives the list of terms used to describe tenacity and a
description of each term. 
8. Magnetism
Magnetism is the characteristic that allows a mineral to attract or repel other magnetic
materials. It can be difficult to determine the differences between the various types of
magnetism, but it is worth knowing that there are distinctions made.
9. Luster
Luster is the property of minerals that indicates how much the surface of a mineral reflects
light. The luster of a mineral is affected by the brilliance of the light used to observe the
mineral surface.
d. Mineral classes:
The classification is given below:
1. Native Elements: This is the category of the pure. Most minerals are made up of
combinations of chemical elements. In this group a single element like the copper
shown here are found in a naturally pure form.
 2. Silicates: This is the largest group of minerals. Silicates are made from metals
combined with silicon and oxygen. There are more silicates than all other minerals put
together.The mica on the left is a member of this group.
3. Oxides: Oxides form from the combination of a metal with oxygen. This group ranges
from dull ores like bauxite to gems like rubies and sapphires. The magnetite pictured
to the left is a member of this group.
4. Sulfides: Sulfides are made of compounds of sulfur usually with a metal. They tend to
be heavy and brittle. Several important metal ores come from this group like the
pyrite pictured here that is an iron ore.
5. Slufates are made of compounds of sulfur combined with metals and oxygen. It is a
large group of minerals that tend to be soft, and translucent like this barite.
6. Halides form from halogen elements like chlorine, bromine, fluorine, and iodine
combined with metallic elements. They are very soft and easily dissolved in water.
Halite is a well-known example of this group. Its chemical formula is NaCl or sodium
chloride commonly known as table salt.
7. Carbonates are a group of minerals made of carbon, oxygen, and a metallic element.
This calcite known as calcium carbonate is the most common of the carbonate group.
8. Phosphates are not as common in occurrence as the other families of minerals. They
are often formed when other minerals are broken down by weathering. They are often
brightly colored.
9. Mineraloid is the term used for those substances that do not fit neatly into one of
these eight classes. Opal, jet, amber, and mother of pearl all belong to the mineraloids.
e. Key properties of igneous rocks:
1. Phaneritic (Intrusive)
Phaneritic rocks are coarse-grained rocks which form below the Earth’s surface.The
individual crystals are relatively even-sized and large enough for scientists to identify the
different mineral grains that compose the rock.
2. Aphanitic rocks
Aphanitic rocks are very fine-grained and contain crystals that are too small to distinguish
without the aid of a magnifying lens. Aphanitic rocks are often described by how light or
dark the rock appears. Lighter colored aphanitic rocks contain mostly non-ferromagnesian
silicate minerals. Darker colored aphanitic rocks contain mostly ferromagnesian silicate
minerals.
3. Porphyritic rocks:
Porphyritic rocks contain both coarse- and fine-grained textures indicating different
environmental conditions which formed the rock. The coarse grains in a porphyritic rock
develop as the magma is cooling below the surface of the earth. The fine-grained component
of a porphyriic rocks forms when the magma or lava cools faster. The large coarse-grained
crystals are referred to as phenocrysts. The small fine-grained crystals are referred to as
groundmass.
4. Aphanitic rocks:
Aphanitic rocks may also contain vesicles of remnant gas that give the rock a vesicular
texture. Vesicles form when the rock cools very quickly and preserves the openings formed
by the expansion of trapped gas bubbles.
5. Glassy textured rocks:
Glassy textured rocks are formed by very rapid cooling of magma. Glassy rocks often form
from magmas with high silica content that arranges into long chainlike structures before
crystallization occurs. These silica chains increase the viscosity of the magma and it once it
eventually cools it forms a glassy textured rock.
6. Pegmatitic (Intrusive)
Pegmatitic rocks contain large interlocking crystalline grains > 1-2 centimeter in diameter.
Pegmatites are commonly composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica minerals. Pegmatities form
from a combination of hydrothermal and igneous processes; and is dependant on the presence
of fluids and volatiles such as water, chlorine, bromine, sulfur, and fluorine.
7. Pyroclastic materials:
Pyroclastic materials form when individual rock fragments are ejected during a violent
volcanic eruption and consolidate into larger rock composites when they deposit on the
surface. Pyroclastic rocks contain at least 75% pyroclastic fragments with the remainder
consisting of other inorganic sediments or organic materials.
8. Aa Lave:
Aa is a basaltic lava flow that has a rough surface, characterized by sharp, jagged blocks and
protruding spines of volcanic rock. Aa flows move slowly (5-50 meters per hour) and are
often several meters thick. As aa lava flows, the outer surface and advancing edge cools first.
The molten material pushes through the cooled rocks and breaks the fragments even more.
As a result the lava flow appears more like a mass of advancing rubble as apposed to a
viscous flow.
9. Pahoehoe Lava:
Pahoehoe (pronounced pah-hoy-hoy) is a basaltic lava flow that has a smooth and twisty,
rope-like surface. The characteristic ropy texture forms as the surface lava cools while the
molten material beneath it is still moving. The tension formed by the cooling lava causes it to
wrinkle as the subsurface lava continues to flow. As a result the surface cools in a series of
overlapping, ropy lobes.

Key properties of Metamorphic rocks:

Foliated metamorphic:
Foliated metamorphic rocks such as gneiss, phyllite, schist, and slate have a layered or
banded appearance that is produced by exposure to heat and directed pressure.
Non-foliated metamorphic rocks:
Non-foliated metamorphic rocks such as hornfels, marble, quartzite, and novaculite do not
have a layered or banded appearance.
 f. Isotropic and non-isotropic:
When the properties of a material are the same in all directions, the material is said to be
isotropic.
Iso tropic rocks are:
 Granite
 Gabbro
 Diorite
When the properties of a material vary with different crystallographic orientations, the
material is said to be anisotropic.
An isotropic rocks are:
 Quartz
 Feldspar
 Olivine
g. Rock and mineral stability:
Most minerals are stable over a relatively narrow range of pressure and temperature (e.g., ice
unstable above 0°C). The stability range of different minerals sometimes overlap and provide
insights into the metamorphic history of rocks.
h. Examples of rocks and minerals:
Minerals are apatite (calcium phosphate), calcite (calcium carbonate), dolomite (calcium
magnesium carbonate), fluorite (calcium fluoride), and gypsum (calcium sulfate).
Rocks are gneiss, slate, marble, schist, and quartzite.

Q no. V
Igneous rocks:
I. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. The
magma can be derived from partial melts of existing rocks in either a planet's mantle
or crust. Typically, the melting is caused by one or more of three processes: an
increase in temperature, a decrease in pressure, or a change in composition.
Solidification into rock occurs either below the surface as intrusive rocks or on the
surface as extrusive rocks. Igneous rock may form with crystallization to form
granular, crystalline rocks, or without crystallization to form natural glasses.
II. Types: These are major classifications of igneous rocks:
 Intrusive igneous rocks: Intrusive igneous rocks are formed by magma that cools
below the Earth’s surface.
 Extrusive igneous rocks: Extrusive igneous rocks, also known as volcanic rocks,
are formed at the crust's surface as a result of the partial melting of rocks within
the mantle and crust.
  Mafic: Mafic is an adjective describing a silicate mineral or igneous rock that is
rich in magnesium and iron, and is thus a portmanteau of magnesium and ferric.
Most mafic minerals are dark in color, and common rock-forming mafic minerals
include olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, and biotite.
 Felsic: Felsic refers to igneous rocks that are relatively rich in elements that form
feldspar and quartz. It is contrasted with mafic rocks, which are relatively richer in
magnesium and iron.
iii. Chemical Composition: total alkali-silica content (TAS diagram) for volcanic rock
classification used when modal or mineralogic data is unavailable:
 felsic igneous rocks containing a high silica content, greater than 63% SiO2
(examples granite and rhyolite),
 intermediate igneous rocks containing between 52–63% SiO2 (example andesite and
dacite),
 mafic igneous rocks have low silica 45–52% and typically high iron – magnesium
content (example gabbro and basalt),
 ultramafic rock igneous rocks with less than 45% silica (examples picrite, komatiite
and peridotite),
 alkalic igneous rocks with 5–15% alkali (K2O + Na2O) content or with a molar ratio
of alkali to silica greater than 1:6 (examples phonolite and trachyte).
iv. Volcano: A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that
allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface:
Types of volcano are: Shield, Cinder Cones & Composite Cones.
Dangerous volcano: Cinder cones are the most common type of volcano. A cinder cone has
a cone shape, but is much smaller than a composite volcano. Cinder cones rarely reach 300
meters in height but they have steep sides.
v. Plate tectonic: Volcanic rocks are among the most common rock types on Earth's surface,
particularly in the oceans. On land, they are very common at plate boundaries and in flood
basalt provinces. It has been estimated that volcanic rocks cover about 8% of the Earth's
current land surface.

Sedimentary Rocks:
Sedimentary rocks are formed by the accumulation of sediments. There are three basic types
of sedimentary rocks.
1. Clastic sedimentary rocks such as breccia, conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone, and
shale are formed from mechanical weathering debris.
2. Chemical sedimentary rocks, such as rock salt, iron ore, chert, flint, some dolomites,
and some limestones, form when dissolved materials precipitate from solution.
3. Organic sedimentary rocks such as coal, some dolomites, and some limestones, form
from the accumulation of plant or animal debris.
Properties:
Its properties are:
  Color
 Texture
 Mineralogy
 Fossils
Size of Sedimentary Rocks:
Clastic sedimentary rocks, are subdivided according to the dominant particle size. Most
geologists use the Udden-Wentworth grain size scale and divide unconsolidated sediment
into three fractions: gravel (>2 mm diameter), sand (1/16 to 2 mm diameter), and mud (clay is
<1/256 mm and silt is between 1/16 and 1/256 mm). The classification of clastic sedimentary
rocks parallels this scheme; conglomerates and breccias are made mostly of gravel,
sandstones are made mostly of sand, and mudrocks are made mostly of the finest material.
This tripartite subdivision is mirrored by the broad categories of rudites, arenites, and lutites,
respectively, in older literature.
ii. Steps of formation of sedimentary rocks:
Sedimentary rocks are the product of 1) weathering of preexisting rocks, 2) transport of the
weathering products, 3) deposition of the material, followed by 4) compaction, and
5) cementation of the sediment to form a rock. The latter two steps are called lithification.

iii. where we found rocks:

 Igneous rock, formed by the cooling of magma (molten rock) inside the Earth or on
the surface. 
 Sedimentary rocks, formed from the products of weathering by cementation or
precipitation on the Earth's surface. 
 Metamorphic rocks, formed by temperature and pressure changes inside the Earth.
Metamorphic rocks:
A metamorphic rock is a result of a transformation of a pre-existing rock. The original rock is
subjected to very high heat and pressure, which cause obvious physical and/or chemical
changes. Examples of these rock types include marble, slate, gneiss, schist.
i. 3 agents of metamorphism:
The 3 agents of metamorphism include heat, pressure (stress), and chemically active
fluids.
ii. 3 types of metamorphism:
The three types of metamorphism are Contact, Regional, and Dynamic metamorphism.

iii. Characteristics of metamorphic rocks:

Metamorphism involves:
Alteration of existing rocks by either excessive heat or pressure, or through the chemical
action of fluids.
This alteration can cause chemical changes or structural modification to the minerals making
up the rock.
Properties of metamorphic rocks:
 Foliated metamorphic rocks such as gneiss, phyllite, schist, and slate have a layered or
banded appearance that is produced by exposure to heat and directed pressure.
 Non-foliated metamorphic rocks such as hornfels, marble, quartzite, and novaculite
do not have a layered or banded appearance.
 Sheets, Slabs and Slates

iv. Where we found metamorphic rocks:

We can find metamorphic rocks where subduction zones have stopped or moved. There are
metamorphic rocks throughout the California coast range as that was at one time a subduction
zone, but is no longer. There are many metamorphic rocks where there has been a collision of
continental crust, such as the Alps, the Himalayas, and the Appalachian range.
We can also find metamorphic rocks near volcanoes, or even better, old plutons, as they heat
up the crust much more than a volcano will. Look for granite on a geologic map, and there
will be metamorphic rocks nearby. There are also metamorphic rocks generated by the hot
water that circulates through volcanoes, and you can find altered volcanic material near many
large volcanoes.
v. Rock cycle:

The Rock Cycle is a group of changes. Igneous rock can change into sedimentary rock or into
metamorphic rock. Sedimentary rock can change into metamorphic rock or into igneous rock.
Metamorphic rock can change into igneous or sedimentary rock.

Igneous rock forms when magma cools and makes crystals. Magma is a hot liquid made of
melted minerals. The minerals can form crystals when they cool. Igneous rock can form
underground, where the magma cools slowly. Or, igneous rock can form above ground,
where the magma cools quickly.

Metamorphic Rock: When Earth's tectonic plates move around, they produce heat. When
they collide, they build mountains and metamorphose (met-ah-MORE-foes) the rock.
Sedimentary Rock: The rock cycle continues. Mountains made of metamorphic rocks can be
broken up and washed away by streams. New sediments from these mountains can make new
sedimentary rock.

The rock cycle never stops.