Minerals
What is the hardest natural mineral on Earth
Diamond
Which type of rock is formed from cooled lava or magma?
Igneous Rock
What is 'Weathering'?
The breakdown of rocks
What is 'Erosion'?
The movement of rock fragments or sediment from one place to another
In which type of rock are fossils most commonly found?
Sedimentary Rock
What property of minerals is determined by scratching them against a reference material?
Hardness
Which type of igneous rock has large crystals and forms below Earth's surface?
Intrusive igneous rock
Name the process that transforms metamorphic rock back into magma.
Melting
Name the four agents of erosion.
Water, Wind, Ice and Gravity.
What are fossils? and what are the two types of fossils?
The preserved remains of ancient organisms (plants, animals, fungi, and micro-organisms).
Body Fossils and Trace Fossils.
What is the term for the way a mineral reflects light from its surface?
Lustre
What type of rock is formed under extreme pressure and temperature conditions deep within the Earth's crust?
Metamorphic Rock
Why are the crystals in intrusive igneous rocks bigger than the crystals in extrusive igneous rocks?
Because intrusive igneous rocks form underground where it is warmer and they solidify slowly. This gives the crystals longer to form, which means they have more time to grow large. Extrusive igneous rocks form above the surface where it is much cooler and they solidify quickly. This means that crystals do not have much time to grow and so they are smaller.
How can sedimentary rock transform into metamorphic rock?
Heat and Pressure
What term describes a fossil that is used to define and identify geologic periods?
Index Fossils
What scale is used to measure the hardness of minerals?
MOH's Hardness Scale
This type of rock is formed when minerals are left behind when water evaporates and layers of these minerals are then compacted and cemented.
Chemical Sedimentary Rock
Name the three types of weathering and give and example of each.
Chemical Weathering
(e.g. acid rain)
Biological Weathering
(e.g. roots growing into cracks)
Physical Weathering
(e.g. water breaking down rock,
heating and cooling causing rock fragments to flake off -onion skin weathering,
water freezing in cracks in rocks making the crack larger - ice-wedging, etc.)
What is the name of the process by which sedimentary rocks are formed from sediment?
Lithification (Or compaction and cementation together)
Explain how fossils form
An organism dies and is quickly buried by sediment, such as mud, sand, or volcanic ash. Over time, more layers of sediment cover the remains, and minerals may seep into the remains, replacing the organic material and turning them into rock (fossils).
What is the term for the color of a mineral's powder, which can be observed by rubbing the mineral on a porcelain plate?
Streak
Which sedimentary rock is made from the compacted remains of microscopic organisms?
Chalk
Explain how magma can become granite (igneous rock), which then becomes sandstone (sedimentary rock).
Magma cools in a pocket underground. As it cools crystals of quartz, mica, and felspar form and once solid become granite. The granite is exposed to the surface through geological processes (such as uplift, or weathering and erosion). Over a long time the granite is broken down by physical weathering and the rock fragments are eroded, eventually these fragments are deposited in a river bed. These sediments build up and compact to eventually form sandstone.
Describe the process by which igneous rock can become sedimentary rock.
Weathering and erosion break down the igneous rock into sediment, which is then compacted and cemented into sedimentary rock.
What is the reason that soft tissue (like internal organs and muscles) are rarely fossilised?
The soft parts decay too fast to be preserved