Earth Science Regents Review
Unit 2
1) What are the five characteristics of
a mineral?
 Must
be naturally occuring
 Inorganic
 Solid
 Definite chemical composition
 Definite crystal structure
2) What controls the physical
properties of a mineral?

The internal arrangement of the atoms.
3) What are the five property tests
for mineral identification?

A) color: least reliable;
many minerals share the
same color or a mineral
may come in many colors.

B) Luster: the way it
shines; nonmetallic or
metallic

C) Streak: the
color of the
powder after
rubbing on a
streak plate (true
color)
 D)
Hardness: the resistance to being
scratched.

E) Cleavage or
fracture: how it breaks
(cleavage=sharp flat
surfaces; fracture=
jagged edges)
1) What is an igneous rock?
 A rock formed from molten lava or magma.
3) Where can igneous rocks
form?
 (a) Deep inside the earth= intrusive
 (b) At or close to the surface= extrusive
5) How can we tell how fast or
slowly the igneous rock has
cooled?
 (a) Slow cooling= large crystals
 (b) Fast cooling= small or no crystals
8) What is a vesicular texture
and how does it form?
 It is a texture with gas pockets that form when
gases escape.
10) What are felsic rocks? Mafic?
 Felsic rocks are light colored with low density.
 Mafic rocks are dark colored with high density.
11) What features do igneous
rocks have?
Igneous rocks have intergrown crystals of different
colors, glassy feature and vesicles.
1) What is a sedimentary rock?
• Rocks that form from an accumulation of
sediments.
3) Where do most sedimentary
rocks form?
• Large bodies of water.
4) What are the four methods of
formation?
•
•
•
•
Cementation
Compaction
Chemical action
Biologic processes
5) What is the process of
cementation?
• Sediments
lose water
and the
dissolved
minerals in
the pores
precipitate
out forming
crystals.
8) How do chemical sedimentary
rocks form?
• Dissolved minerals drop out from water
when it evaporates.
• 9) Are chemically formed sedimentary
rocks monominerallic or polyminerallic?
13) What are the four features of a
sedimentary rock?
•
•
•
•
Layers
Fossils
Fragments stuck together
Crystals all one color
2) How does metamorphism
occur?
 A rock is changed through intense heat or
intense pressure or both.
4) What are some characteristics of
rocks that have undergone
recrystallization?
 (a) Mineral alignment: minerals are squeezed
and forced to line up
 (b) Banding: alternating light and dark layers;
“zebra stripes”
 (c) Crystal grains that can’t be separated, i.e.
sandstone into quartzite
5) What are the two types of
metamorphism?
 (a) Regional: intense pressure and some heat
from mountain building
 (b) Contact: intense heat from magma touching
cold surrounding rocks
7) What are the two
classifications of metamorphic
rocks?
 (a) Foliated: looks like layers in the rock caused
by mineral alignment
 (b) Nonfoliated: no layers but is a hard dense
crystalline mass
8) Where are metamorphic rocks
found?
 Metamorphic rocks are found in between
igneous and sedimentary rocks
9) What are the features of
metamorphic rocks?
 Banding (looks like zebra stripes)
 Mineral alignment (looks like sparkly layers)
 Hard, dense crystalline mass
 Distorted structure (stretched out)