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Unit -3 Study Guide Rocks & Minerals
What landforms are created by weathering, erosion & deposition?
 Canyons - over thousands of years, running water weathers & erodes
rock, creating a canyon.
 Sand Dunes – are piles of sand created by the wind
 Barrier Islands – a dune system that is formed by water via waves and
tidal action.
 Delta – is a landform that is a result of sediment (broken down rock and
other material) being deposited at the mouth of a river.
How does sediment form?
 Sediment forms when rocks are broken apart into smaller pieces.
Minerals:
The Mohs’ scale lists the hardness of specific minerals.
Remember this: A mineral can scratch another mineral only if it has a
lower hardness.
Remember this: A diamond can scratch any other material because it is the
hardest mineral (according to the Mohs’ scale).
Minerals are often identified by their…
 Color – just that, what’s the color
 Hardness – is determined with a scratch test. Remember: harder
minerals scratch softer minerals
 Streak – color left when scratching a mineral across a piece of tile.
 Cleavage – describes how a mineral will break
 Luster – a range of terms used to describe the shine such as earthy,
metallic, pearl, glassy…
Properties of Minerals:
Streak – the process of rubbing a mineral across a tile to record the color of
the mark that is left on the tile.
Halite – a type of mineral that forms when a large pool of seawater slowly
evaporates.
Schist – a coarse grained metamorphic rock containing crystals of the
minerals that make up the rock.
Pumice – is a extremely porous igneous rock that forms during explosive
volcanic eruptions. It floats because it has lots of air-filled chambers.
Copper – a metal that can be mined from rocks
Coal – a mineral of fossilized carbon
The Rock Cycle
Resources:
Igneous
Sedimentary
Metamorphic
Metamorphic rock
melts and becomes
magma. Magma
erupts from
volcanoes and
cools to become
igneous rock.
Sediment from other
types of rocks are
pressed or cemented
together to create
layered rocks called
sedimentary rocks
Properties:
Properties:
Formed other types
of rocks are buried
deep beneath the
ground and undergo
tremendous heat and
pressure until they
form metamorphic
rock
Unique colors and
crystal
Layers
Contains fossils
Renewable
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Water
Wind
Sun/Solar
Timber
Biomass
Geothermal heat
Properties:
Contains lines of
mineral grains
Non-Renewable

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Silica – an important
resource found in Florida
used to make solar panels.
Fossil Fuels- coal, gas, oil
Minerals
Metal ores