Mineral Properties
The way a mineral reflects light.
What is luster?
A hard, solid material that is made of minerals and is found in nature.
What is a rock?
The process in which sediment is laid down in new locations.
What is deposition?
The solid rock underneath soil or loose rocks known as the lowest of 3 main layers of soils.
What is bedrock?
The melted, liquid rock beneath Earth’s surface.
What is magma?
This can be found by rubbing the mineral on a ceramic tile.
What is a streak?
The continuous, dynamic set of processes by which rocks are changed into other types of rock.
What is the rock cycle?
The wearing away of soil and rock particles by waves, wind, running water, or glaciers.
What is erosion?
The top layer in soil in which most plants have their roots.
What is topsoil?
Magma that breaks through the earth’s surface.
What is lava?
A measure of the ability of a mineral to resist scratching.
What is hardness?
Rocks formed by the cooling of molten rock (either magma or lava).
What are igneous rocks?
The process of wearing away or changing Earth’s surface caused by natural forces.
What is weathering?
The process of which sedimentary rocks are pressed together into layers.
What is stratification?
A mineral that forms in regular, tight patterns.
What is a crystal?
A descriptive characteristic of powder on a tile found after rubbing the mineral on a ceramic tile.
What is color?
Rocks formed from the weathering, erosion, deposition, and compaction of other rocks.
What are sedimentary rocks?
The process of removing unwanted materials from a substance.
What is refine?
The remains of a plant or animal that turned to stone over a long period of time.
What is a fossil?
A solid, natural material that does not come from a living thing.
What is a mineral?
The splitting of a mineral along smooth, flat surfaces.
What is cleavage?
They are formed from pre-existing rock which is subjected to heat and pressure. (The rock is solid, but the minerals break down in form and change their shape.)
What are metamorphic rocks?
The term to describe the remains of plants and animals.
What is organic?
The process for when rocks are “squeezed” together.
What is compaction?
A rock that has useful metals or other minerals inside it.
What is an ore?