Marvelous Minerals
To be classified as a mineral, a substance must be naturally occurring, inorganic, have a definite chemical composition, a crystalline structure, and be in this state of matter.
What is a solid?
This rock type forms when molten magma or lava cools and crystallizes.
What is igneous rock?
About 300 million years ago, all of Earth's landmasses were joined together in this supercontinent.
What is Pangaea?
Tectonic plates move away from each other at this type of plate boundary.
What is a divergent boundary?
This thick layer of the geosphere sits directly between Earth's outer crust and its metallic core.
What is the mantle?
This property describes the color of a mineral when it is ground into a fine powder, often tested by dragging the mineral across an unglazed porcelain tile.
What is streak?
Formed from compacted sediments, pressed layers of mud, or organic remains, sandstone and limestone belong to this rock family.
What is sedimentary rock?
This German meteorologist proposed the hypothesis of continental drift in 1912.
Who was Alfred Wegener?
The process where a denser oceanic plate slides beneath a lighter continental plate and sinks into the mantle is called this.
What is subduction?
The rigid, solid outer layer of the geosphere that encompasses both the crust and uppermost mantle is known as this.
What is the lithosphere?
Used to rank mineral hardness from 1 (talc) to 10 (diamond), this scale is named after a German mineralogist.
What is the Mohs Hardness Scale?
Pre-existing rocks transform into this type of rock when exposed to intense heat and pressure deep underground without fully melting.
What is metamorphic rock?
Identical fossils of Mesosaurus, a freshwater reptile, found in both South America and Africa served as this type of evidence for continental drift.
What is fossil evidence?
The San Andreas Fault in California is an example of this type of boundary where tectonic plates slide past each other horizontally.
What is a transform boundary?
Fossils are almost exclusively found in this specific rock class because extreme heat and pressure would destroy them.
What is sedimentary rock?
This property describes how light reflects off the surface of a mineral, typically categorized as metallic or non-metallic.
What is luster?
This continuous process illustrates how any rock type can transform into any other rock type over geological time.
What is the rock cycle?
Glacial grooves and striations found in warm tropical locations like India and southern Africa serve as this category of evidence for continental drift.
What is climate (or paleoclimate) evidence?
Deep underwater mountain chains, such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, form along divergent ocean boundaries due to this floor-expanding process.
What is seafloor spreading?
Coal is not classified as a mineral because it comes from ancient plant remains, failing this specific mineral criterion.
What is being inorganic?
When a mineral breaks along smooth, flat planes, it exhibits this property rather than fracture.
What is cleavage?
Obsidian is a dark, glassy rock that cools so rapidly on Earth's surface that crystals cannot form, classifying it as this specific type of igneous rock.
What is extrusive (or volcanic) igneous rock?
Alfred Wegener's continental drift hypothesis was rejected by most scientists during his lifetime primarily for this reason.
What is failing to explain the mechanism (or force) that caused the continents to move?
Circular heat movements within Earth's mantle that drive the movement of the overlying tectonic plates are called these.
What are convection currents?
The Himalayan Mountains, including Mount Everest, were formed by this specific type of plate interaction.
What is a continental-continental convergent boundary (or continental collision)?