Mineral Mania
The property that describes how a mineral's surface reflects light
What is luster?
Forms when magma cools below the Earth's surface, allowing large mineral crystals to form
What is an intrusive igneous rock?
Mountain building, Trenches
What is a convergent plate boundary?
This geologic principle is often simplified as 'the present is the key to the past'
What is uniformitarianism?
The outermost layer of earth
What is the crust?
This physical property is determined by the mineral’s resistance to scratching and is measured using Mohs scale
What is hardness?
This rock is formed from the accumulation and lithification of organic plant remains
What is coal?
Mid-Ocean Ridge, Basalt, Net gain of lithosphere
What is a divergent plate boundary?
The process by which wind, water, or ice breaks down rocks into smaller particles
What is weathering?
The largest layer of the Earth, by volume and mass
What is the mantle?
This mineral identification property involves rubbing a mineral on an unglazed porcelain plate to observe the color of its powdered form
What is streak?
This process involves the compaction and cementation of sediments to form sedimentary rock
What is lithification?
Stationary spot where melted mantle rock rises to the surface
What is a hot spot?
This German scientist proposed the theory of continental drift in the early 20th century
Who is Alfred Wegener?
These seismic waves cannot travel through the liquid outer core, providing evidence for its composition
What are S-waves (shear waves)?
Cooling from a liquid to a solid, evaporation of a briny liquid, and chemical precipitation of a fluid
What are examples of how minerals form?
This type of igneous rock is formed when mafic magma cools quickly on the Earth's surface.
What is basalt?
Lateral motion, earthquakes, no gain or loss of lithosphere
What is a transform plate boundary?
This region, known for frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, is located along the edge of the Pacific Ocean
What is the Ring of Fire?
This semi-solid layer of the mantle, located below the lithosphere, allows tectonic plates to move on top of it
What is the asthenosphere?
Simply SiO2
What is quartz?
The alignment of minerals like mica in metamorphic rocks produces this texture, seen in rocks like schist
What is foliation?
In addition to mid-ocean ridges, this feature often forms on continents where a divergent boundary starts breaking a landmass apart
What is a continental rift zone?
Age of rock layers compared to each other to develop a sequence of events
What is relative dating?
This layer of the Earth is composed mainly of iron and nickel and is responsible for Earth’s magnetic field
What is the outer core?