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
rocks and soils
2

There are more than 3500

minerals identified
New minerals are being
found every year

Periodic Table
8 elements account for 98%of Earths
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 minerals 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 minerals
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 : Fools 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 semiprecious 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/worldslargest-diamond-mine.html