Rocks and Minerals

The tendency if a mineral to split along specific planes of weakness to form smooth, flat surfaces.

A solid whose atoms, ions or molecules are arranged in a regular , repeating pattern.

The ratio of the mass of a substance to the volume of the substance. D= M/V

The strength of the bonds between atoms that make up the mineral.

Not made up of living things or remains of living things.

A mineral that does not contain compounds of silicon and oxygen.

A mineral that contains a combination of silicon and oxygen and that may also contain 1 or more minerals.

The color of a mineral in powdered form.

The standard scale against which hardness of a minerals is rated.

Rock fragments carried away by water, wind or ice.

The amount of matter that makes up a substance.

The gravitational force that is exerted on an object.

The amount of space that a substance or object occupies.

“Deep rock” Form the core of many mountain ranges. Cover at least 100 km-squared.

The process in which mineral precipitate into pore spaces between sediment grains and bind sediments together to form rocks.

Sedimentary rock that forms when minerals precipitate from a solutions or settle from a suspension.

Clastic sedimentary rock composed of angular fragments and have sharp corners.

The process in which the volume and porosity of a sediment is decreased by the weight of overlying sediments as a result of burial beneath other sediments.

Rock that forms from the cooling and solidification of lava at the Earth’s surface.

Rock that forms when magma cools and solidifies.

Rock formed from the cooling and solidification of magma beneath the Earth’s surface.

Lumps of rock that have a composition that is different from than of the main rock body.

Clastic sedimentary rock composed of rounded fragments.

A change in the texture, structure or chemical composition of a rock due to contact with magma.