Minerals & Properties
What are the 5 characteristics that all minerals must have?
1. naturally occurring
2. inorganic
3. solid
4. definite chemical composition
5. crystalline structure
Which rock type forms from cooled magma or lava?
Igneous
What is the main difference between weathering and erosion?
Weathering breaks down rocks
erosion moves broken pieces away
Which soil drains water the fastest: sand, silt, or clay?
Sand drains fastest
What is the main difference between a quarry and a mine?
Quarry typically extracts building stone or aggregates from open pits
mine can be surface or subsurface and extracts ore minerals, coal, etc.
Which mineral property is considered the least reliable for identification?
Physical Color
Describe the relationship between cooling rate and crystal size in igneous rocks.
Slower = larger
quicker = smaller
Give one example of physical weathering and one example of chemical weathering
Physical - process of breaking down rock into smaller pieces (ice wedge)
Chemical - a chemical reaction that breaks down rock (acid rain)
Which soil holds the most water: sand, silt, or clay?
clay
Name one benefit and one drawback of surface mining.
Surface mining benefits: cheaper, safer for miners, high recovery
drawbacks: large surface disturbance, habitat loss, pollution
What test is used to determine mineral hardness?
Scratch test
Name the three types of sedimentary rocks and give one brief formation mechanism for each.
clastic - formed from weathering and erosion of any preexisting rock
chemical - minerals have fallen out of solution or water has evaporated and left behind the mineral
organic - comes from the remains of plants and animals ( fossils)
Name five types/forms of water erosion
1. splash erosion
2. sheet erosion
3. rill erosion
4. gully erosion
5. stream/river erosion
Name the soil horizons from top to bottom (give standard horizon letters)
O (organic, if present), A (topsoil), E (eluviation, sometimes), B (subsoil), C (parent material), R (bedrock)
What does reclamation mean in mining context? How does it differ from restoration?
Reclamation: process of returning mined land to a stable, usable condition (often grading, soil replacement, planting).
Restoration aims to return ecosystem functions and native biodiversity—sometimes more ambitious than reclamation.
Describe the difference between cleave and fracture
cleavage: breaking along certain lines
fracture: jagged, rough breaking
What are the two broad categories of metamorphic rocks, and what causes metamorphism?
Foliated vs Nonfoliated
heat, pressure, and/or chemical reaction
Explain how wind erosion differs from water erosion and give two landforms made by wind erosion/deposition.
Wind erosion mainly occurs in dry areas and moves smaller particles through the air.
water erosion uses flowing water to carry sediment away.
Two landforms created by wind erosion or deposition are sand dunes and loess deposits.
Define porosity and permeability, and explain the difference in one sentence.
Porosity = percentage of void space in soil or rock
Permeability = how easily fluids move through those spaces.
High porosity doesn't guarantee high permeability if pores aren't connected.
List three possible future problems involving mineral supply or mining.
Future problems: depletion of high-grade ores, increased environmental damage, geopolitical supply disruptions, higher extraction costs, rare-earth element scarcity.
Name three special properties some minerals may show (give an example for each)
Magnetic - magnetite
Double refraction - calcite
Bubble in reaction to weak acid
Halite tastes salty
List four igneous textures and give the cooling condition for each.
1. porphyritic - slow and fast
2. Course-grained (plutonic): magma hardens very slowly
3. fine-grained: lava cooled and hardened rapidly
4. glassy: magma hardened very very quickly no crystals
Describe how soil particle size affects drainage and water retention (rank and explain).
Sand has the largest particles = Large sand particles allow water to drain quickly but do not hold much water
silt has medium-sized particles = Silt is in between, holding some water while still allowing moderate drainage.
clay has the smallest particles = tiny clay particles drain slowly and hold a lot of water.
List and briefly describe four farming methods used to conserve soil
Contour plowing (plow along slopes to reduce runoff)
terracing (create step-like benches to slow water)
crop rotation (prevents nutrient depletion and erosion)
cover crops (hold soil year-round and protect from erosion).
Evaluate one environmental trade-off when choosing between surface and subsurface mining (short explanation).
Example trade-off: Surface mining has higher environmental footprint (habitat loss, erosion) but is cheaper and safer for miners; subsurface mining has less surface impact but higher cost and greater risk to miners and potential for subsidence and acid mine drainage.