Mineral Properties
What's the difference between color and streak?
Color is the combined wavelengths of light that are reflected off the mineral and to your eyes. Streak is the color of the dust that is left behind after the mineral is scratched on porcelain
What mineral used in cooking is a famous evaporite
Salt
What is a polymorph?
A mineral that has the same chemical composition but a different structure as another mineral
What do small, rounded clasts mean?
Fast water, the rocks were moved far
What's the difference between ripples and dunes?
Size
What's the difference between diaphaneity and luster?
Diaphaneity is transparency and luster is shininess
What is chemical weathering?
When solutions (liquid with ions dissolved in it) react with minerals and change them into new minerals
One element or one compound in a repeating, orderly structure
Order the following sediment sizes from smallest to largest: Boulder, silt, clay, sand, pebble, cobble
Clay, silt, sand, pebble, cobble, boulder
In graded bedding what's the order?
Small on top, large on bottom
What does massive mineral habit mean?
No clearly defined facets
What is it called when there is a hole in rock and minerals are deposited in it?
A geode
What is a crystal system?
A group of minerals that is defined by a set of points in 3D space that the crystal lattice meets - there are 7
What are the three major types of sedimentary rocks and how are they formed?
Clastic - clasts (pieces of sediment)
Organic - pieces of organic matter
Chemical - formed from precipitation
What do symmetrical ripples mean?
Water moves in both directions
Given a nail, a rope, a penny, scissors, and a diamond ring, how could you figure out a mineral's hardness? You don't have to use all your materials
What does Bowen's Reaction Series show?
The sequence of silicate minerals formed as magma cools
What is a solid solution series?
A range of compositions between two or more minerals that share the same basic chemical formula but have one or more elements substituted for another
What is matrix?
In a glacial environment, what sorting will you find?
Poor sorting
Name one of the two mineral properties that is most directly affected by a mineral's crystal system
Cleavage/fracture or piezoelectricity
What's the difference between evaporation and precipitation?
Precipitation is when a solid forms from ions that were dissolved in water - from a reaction. Evaporation is when water evaporates so those ions are left behind so they solidify
Name 2 crystal systems or 2 silicate tetrahedra formation types
Cubic, Tetragonal, Orthorhombic, Hexagonal, Trigonal, Monoclinic, Triclinic, Nesosilicates (isolated/island), Sorosilicates (double island), Cyclosilicates (ring), Inosilicates (chain), Phyllosilicates, Tectosilicates
Describe lithification/diagenesis
The conversion of loose sediment into sedimentary rock, consists of compaction and cementation
What is cross bedding?
Layers of sediment inclined at angles