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Questions and Answers
Which mineral is mentioned as crystallizing at temperatures between 1200° and 1300°C?
What is one of the most obvious but not useful diagnostic features of a mineral?
Which of the following elements does not make up a significant percentage of the Earth’s crust?
Norman Levi Bowen is primarily known for his work in which area of geology?
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How is a mineral defined in geological terms?
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What term describes minerals that form the majority of rocks?
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Which of the following describes the term 'euhedral'?
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What term is used to describe minerals that appear grape-like?
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Which of the following descriptions corresponds with the 'dendritic' habit of minerals?
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Which property indicates how easily a mineral can be scratched?
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What does the term 'vitreous' refer to in mineralogy?
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What is a characteristic of minerals classified as 'massive'?
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Which mineral habit is characterized by crystals that are slender and similar to needles?
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What is the chemical formula for quartz?
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Which of the following colors can quartz exhibit?
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What is the hardness of quartz on the Mohs scale?
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Which of the following best describes the luster of quartz?
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Which statement about the cleavage of quartz is true?
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What type of rock can quartz commonly be found in?
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What characterizes the transparency of quartz?
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Which property of quartz makes it capable of producing an electric charge when pressed?
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Which of the following characteristics is NOT a striking feature of quartz?
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Which mineral is known as a very poor conductor of heat and electricity and is used as an insulator?
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Which variety of Muscovite is manganese-rich and features pink to red coloration?
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What does the term 'tectosilicates' refer to in the context of silicate minerals?
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Which of the following is true about Biotite?
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Which mineral is isomorphous with Diopside and Hedenbergite?
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What is a defining characteristic of the Fassaite variety of Muscovite?
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Among the following options, which variety of Muscovite has a silky appearance?
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Study Notes
Common Accessory Minerals
- Zircon, monazite, apatite, titanite, tourmaline, pyrite and opaque minerals are examples of common accessory minerals.
Norman Levi Bowen
- Bowen was born in Kingston, Ontario and studied geology at Queen's University and MIT.
- He conducted groundbreaking research on the process of magma cooling.
- The Bowen reaction series explains the order in which minerals crystallize from cooling magma.
8 Elements Make up 98% of the Earth’s Crust
- Oxygen, silicon, aluminium, iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium, and potassium are the eight most abundant elements in the Earth's crust.
Rocks
- Rocks are composed of minerals.
Minerals
- A mineral is a naturally occurring solid, usually crystalline, stable at room temperature, and inorganic.
- There are almost 5,000 known mineral species.
- The majority of rocks are formed from combinations of a few common minerals.
Rock-Forming Minerals
- Feldspars, quartz, amphiboles, micas, olivine, garnet, calcite, and pyroxenes are generally considered "rock-forming" minerals.
Accessory Minerals
- Accessory minerals are minerals that occur within a rock in small quantities.
Physical Properties of Minerals
- Color: It is one of the most obvious characteristics of a mineral, but generally not the most useful diagnostic feature.
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Crystal Habit: It refers to the characteristic shape of a mineral unit.
- Euhedral: Crystals with well-developed faces (e.g., garnet crystals).
- Aggregates of crystals: Acicular (needle-like), granular, bladed (blade-like, slender and flattened), hexagonal (six-sided), botryoidal (grape-like masses), massive (no distinct shape), columnar (long, slender prisms), octahedral (eight-sided), cubic (cube-shaped), platy (flat, tablet shape), dendritic (tree-like, branching in multiple directions), prismatic (elongate, prism-like), fibrous (very slender prisms), radial or stellate (radiating outwards from a central point, star-like), foliated or lamellar (layered structure, parts easily into very thin sheets).
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Hardness: It is a measure of how resistant a mineral is to scratching.
- It is commonly measured on the Mohs scale.
- Streak: The color of the mark a mineral leaves behind when rubbed against a piece of unglazed porcelain.
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Luster: The way in which the surface of a mineral reflects light.
- Adamantine (diamond-like lustre), dull or earthy (no reflections), greasy (appearance of being coated with an oily substance), pearly (whitish iridescence like pearls), vitreous (like glass), silky (like silk fabric), resinous (like resin), metallic (metal-like in appearance).
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Cleavage: An indication of how well a mineral breaks along planes of weakness.
- Cleavage may be described as "perfect," "good," "distinct," or "poor".
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Fracture: How a mineral breaks when it does not break along a cleavage plane.
- Conchoidal fracture: A smooth, curved surface with rounded edges (e.g., quartz).
- Uneven fracture: A rough, irregular surface.
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Tenacity: The resistance of a mineral to deformation.
- Brittle: Easily broken into smaller pieces.
- Malleable: Can be hammered into thin sheets.
- Ductile: Can be drawn into thin wires.
- Specific Gravity: The ratio of the density of a mineral to the density of water.
Quartz
- Chemical formula: SiO2
- Composition: Silicon Dioxide
- Color: Colorless, white, purple, pink, brown, black, gray, green, orange, yellow, blue, and red.
- Streak: White
- Hardness: 7
- Crystal System: Hexagonal
- Cleavage: Indiscernible
- Fracture: Conchoidal
- Tenacity: Brittle
- Striking features: Hardness, crystal forms, striations on crystal faces, and frequent appearance of conchoidal fractures on crystal faces.
- Environment: Quartz occurs in almost every single mineral environment.
Biotite
- A common form of mica.
- Named after Jean Baptiste Biot (1774-1862), a French physicist.
- Manganese-rich variety of Biotite is called Manganophyllite.
Muscovite
- The most common mineral of the mica family.
- A very poor conductor of heat and electricity.
- Used as an insulator in various electrical products and semiconductors.
Varieties of Muscovite
- Alurgite: Manganese-rich, pink to red variety.
- Fuchsite: Dark green, chromium-rich variety.
- Mariposite: Green form of Muscovite mica in small dense flake group found in Mariposa.
- Schernickite: Light pink form.
- Sericite: A fine-grained form of mica (usually Muscovite) that is somewhat silky in appearance.
- Star Muscovite: Describes twinned Muscovite crystals in pointed star-shaped sections.
Feldspar
- A large group of rock-forming silicate minerals that make up over 50% of the Earth’s crust.
- Manganese-rich, pink to red variety of Muscovite is called Alurgite.
Augite
- Isomorphous with the minerals Diopside and Hedenbergite.
- Varieties:
- Fassaite: Has a low iron content.
- Jeffersonite: A variety of Augite usually having a lighter green color and translucency than other Augites.
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Description
Explore the fascinating world of geology with this quiz covering key concepts such as common accessory minerals, rock-forming minerals, and essential elements of the Earth's crust. Dive into the work of Norman Levi Bowen and understand the crystallization order from cooling magma. Perfect for geology enthusiasts and students alike!
