1. Planet Earth Minerals Rocks and the Rock Cycle Erosion
The Moving Crust
Earthquakes
Volcanoes
Mountains
Fossils
Geologic Time
Fossil Fuels

2. Minerals
Topic 1

3. Minerals – Introduction
Rocks contain naturally occurring, non-living substances called minerals.
Minerals are rare and are either:
elements (made of 1 type of atom) or
compounds (combinations of bonded atoms)
Minerals are not only found in rocks, but they are also found in your body, and dissolved in water (like iron and potassium)
Mineral Uses - first 1:40

4. Think about it! How might you tell these two minerals apart?
One is pyrite (fool’s gold) the other is actual gold – can you tell the difference?
Geology Kitchen - Identifying Minerals

5. Identifying Minerals Minerals can be identified 5 main ways:
Colour & Streak
Hardness
Shape & Crystals
Lustre
Cleavage & Fracture
(Chemical Properties, Transparency & Density)
Mineral Properties

6. Colour & Streak
Some minerals can be identified by looking at the colour of the surface.
One Mineral may have several colours
Corundum can be white, blue or red, depending on what other elements are present.

7. Colour & Streak
When two different minerals appear to have the same colour, streak can be used to show the colour of the powder form of the mineral

8. Hardness Fredrick Mohs was a German scientist from the early 1800’s
He developed a scale of ten minerals to show hardness
Talc is the softest mineral – similar to pencil lead
Diamond is the hardest mineral – used on surgical scalpels, razor blades and drill bits

9. Hardness – Mohs Scale

10. Hardness – Mohs Scale Mineral Hardness Hardness of Common Objects Talc1
Soft pencil (1)
Gypsum 2
Fingernail (2.5)
Calcite 3
Copper (3.5)
Fluorite 4
Iron Nail (4.5)
Apatite 5
Glass (5.5)
Feldspar 6
Steel File (6.5)
Quartz 7
Porcelain Tile (7)
Topaz 8
Flint Sand Paper (7.5)
Corrundum 9
Emery Paper (9.0)
Diamon 10
Carborumdum Sandpaper

11. Shape & Crystals Crystals are the building blocks of minerals
They are natural structures with flat faces, straight edges
Most minerals will grow into huge crystal formations

13. Shape & Crystals

14. Lustre
Lustre is the shine of a surface, or the way it reflects or absorbs light.
Lustre is split between metallic and non-metallic

15. Lustre

16. Cleavage & Fracture
Cleavage is when minerals split along the flat surfaces of the crystals
Fracture is when minerals break along uneven surfaces
Mica has cleavage because it breaks in smooth flat sheets

17. Chemical Properties
Some minerals will react with substances like acids
Calcium carbonate (aka chalk) reacts with acids and produces a new gas, so it bubbles
Another chemical property is that metals corrode when exposed to oxygen in the air.
This is called rust, or oxidization

18. Transparency
Minerals can also be identified by the amount of light they let through. They can be:
Transparent – see through
Translucent – shadowy
Opaque – no light passes through

19. Density
Density relates to how many particles are in a given amount of a mineral.
If there are a lot, the mineral will seem quite heavy compared to a less dense mineral which can seem light.
Some lava rock is so light that it can float.
This contributes to the formation of volcanic islands like Hawaii

20. Rocks & The Rock Cycle
Topic 2

21. The Rock Cycle There are three types of rocks Igneous Sedimentary
Metamorphic

22. Igneous Rocks
Igneous rock forms when hot magma or lava cool and solidify
Magma is melted rock found below the Earth's crust
Rocks made of magma are INtrusive igneous rocks
Lava is molten rock that is on the earths surface (after volcano)
Rocks made of lava are EXtrusive igneous rocks

23. Igneous Rocks Cooling magma and lava will create crystals
The size of the crystals depends on how fast the rock cools
The slower it cools, the larger the crystals

24. Igneous Rocks - Intrusive
Granite is an intrusive igneous rock
Tiny crystals are visible in the rock

25. Igneous Rocks - Extrusive
Obsidian is an extrusive igneous rock
The crystals are too small to be seen because of how quickly the rock cooled.
Igneous Rocks

26. Sedimentary Rocks
Sediment is small loose pieces of material like rocks, minerals, and organic matter
Sediment forms into sedimentary rock over time.

27. Sedimentary Rocks
Sedimentary rock is made up of layers of compressed sediment, cemented together over time
The cementation happens when certain minerals dissolve in water and bind the sediment when it dries.

28. Sedimentary Rocks
75% of the rock on the Earth’s surface is sedimentary
Visible layers of sedimentary rock are called strata

29. Sedimentary Rocks Types of sedimentary rock include:
Shale comes from fine clay or mud
Sandstone comes from broken down quartz
Conglomerates are pebbles and small stones cemented together
Limestone is organic sedimentary rock, containing fossils
Sedimentary Rocks

30. Metamorphic Rocks
Meta – Change
Morph – shape/form
Metamorphic rocks are those that have changed form because of heat and pressure that have been applied to the parent material.

31. Metamorphic rocks Shale  Slate  Schist Granite  Gneiss
Limestone  Marble
Metamorphic Rock

32. Metamorphic Rocks

33. The Rock Cycle Rocks are constantly changing.
The Rock Cycle varies constantly as rocks are:
Weathered
Compression and Cementation
Buried
Melted
Solidified
Sung
Pet Rock Theatre