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Earth Science 11: Earth Materials Review Questions
Part A: Multiple Choice
1) Which of the following best defines the relationship between minerals and rocks?
A) A rock has an orderly, repetitive, geometrical, internal arrangement of minerals; a mineral is a
lithified or consolidated aggregate of rocks.
B) A mineral consists of atoms arranged in a geometrically repetitive structure; in a rock, the
atoms are randomly bonded without any geometric pattern.
C) In a mineral, atoms are bonded in a regular, repetitive, internal structure; a rock is a
lithified or consolidated aggregate of mineral grains.
D) A rock consists of atoms bonded in a regular, geometrically predictable arrangement; a
mineral is a consolidated aggregate of rock particles.
2) When in contact with hydrochloric acid, which mineral gives off bubbles of carbon dioxide
gas?
A) quartz
B) halite
C) calcite
D) fluorite
3) The appearance or quality of light reflected from the surface of a mineral is known as
________.
A) cleavage
B) luster
C) specific gravity
D) streak
4) How many cleavage directions does this mineral specimen display?
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4
5) Imagine you are handed a mineral sample. It breaks with a conchoidal
fracture, but displays no cleavage. It does not react with hydrochloric
acid, is a light pink color, and has a nonmetallic luster. It is harder than a
streak plate, and has a specific gravity of 2.65. What mineral is it?
A) olivine
B) potassium feldspar
C) calcite
D) quartz
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6) Due to the arrangement of weaker bonds in their crystal lattice, the tendency of certain
minerals to break along smooth, parallel planes is known as ________.
A) streak
B) cleavage
C) luster
D) crystal habit
7) Three of the following ARE true for minerals. Which one of the following is NOT true for
minerals?
A) They have a specific, predictable chemical composition.
B) They have an orderly internal crystalline structure.
C) They can be identified by characteristic physical properties.
D) They can be a liquid, solid, or gas.
8) Which of the following properties would be least useful for identifying a sample of calcite?
A) reaction to hydrochloric acid
B) three planes of cleavage
C) white color
D) hardness of 3 on the Mohs scale
9) An igneous rock that shows a vesicular texture ________.
A) contains many small holes, like Swiss cheese
B) must be extrusive
C) must be fine grained
D) all of the above
10) An igneous rock that cools rapidly is likely to have ________ crystals.
A) small
B) medium-sized
C) large
D) pink
11) Examine the rock sample here. Did it form at the surface or below
the surface, and how do you know?
A) It formed at the surface, because of its color (composition).
B) It formed at the surface, because of its texture (grain size).
C) It formed below the surface, because of its color (composition).
D) It formed below the surface, because of its texture (grain size).
11) Magma that might have cooled slowly to produce a diorite is instead
erupted at Earth's surface. It would chill rapidly and produce a(n)
________.
A) rhyolite
B) andesite
C) basalt
D) granite
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12) Which igneous texture is characterized by two distinctively different crystal sizes?
A) fine-grained
B) coarse-grained
C) glassy
D) porphyritic
13) To transform an igneous rock into a sedimentary rock, which of the following processes must
take place?
A) melting and re-cooling, followed by crystallization
B) chemical reactions under conditions of elevated temperature or pressure
C) weathering, transport, deposition, and lithification
D) impact by a meteorite
14) Which kind of rocks may contain fossils?
A) igneous
B) sedimentary
C) metamorphic
D) minerals
15) Detrital sedimentary rocks are classified and named principally on the basis of ________.
A) grain size
B) location
C) rock color
D) composition
16) Which rock type is most likely to have been deposited in a high- energy environment (such
as a very turbulent stream)?
A) conglomerate
B) shale
C) chert
D) microcrystalline limestone
17) The skeletal remains of plankton make up the sedimentary rock ________.
A) flint
B) breccia
C) travertine
D) chalk
18) Which of the following rock types represents the highest grade of metamorphism?
A) slate
B) phyllite
C) schist
D) gneiss
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19) Regional metamorphism occurs during ________.
A) intrusion of magma
B) mountain building
C) sheeting of exposed plutons of granite
D) chemical weathering of limestone in caves
Part B: Short Answer
1) Describe in detail the relationship between elements, minerals, and rocks. Give a specific
example of a specific element that is included in a specific mineral that is included in a specific
rock.
Answer: Elements make up minerals, and minerals make up rocks. Answers will vary for the
second part, but a correct answer might point out that iron and oxygen are elements. These
elements may bond to form magnetite, and magnetite is a mineral that may be incorporated into a
rock such as a sandstone.
2) Describe the characteristics a substance must possess in order to qualify as a mineral, and then
describe which of the following cannot be minerals, listing a specific reason for each.
a. Gold nugget
b.
Seawater
c.
Quartz
d. Cubic zirconia
e.
Obsidian
f.
Ruby
g. Glacial ice
h.
Amber
Answer: Minerals are (1) naturally occurring (2) inorganic (3) solids that (4) possess an orderly
crystalline structure and (5) a characteristic chemical composition. Gold is a mineral; seawater
isn't because it isn't solid; quartz is; cubic zirconia isn't because it's not naturally occurring;
obsidian isn't because it lacks an orderly crystalline structure; ruby is; glacial ice is; and amber is
not because it lacks an orderly crystalline structure.
3) What steps would you take in order to identify a mineral by its physical properties?
Answer: Test the hardness against substances/objects of known hardness; search for number of
cleavage planes and their orientation relative to one another. Identify the luster. Attempt to streak
the mineral against a ceramic plate. Drop hydrochloric acid on it. See if it's magnetic. Compare
all of these criteria to known properties for minerals, perhaps from my lab manual.
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4) Label each process or set of processes (lettered arrows) and Earth materials (numbered boxes).
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5) Consider the history of a single crystal of quartz. Describe how could this quartz grain could
(a) form in a granite, (b) become incorporated into a sandstone, and (c) be transformed into a
quartzite? Explain the processes which act on the quartz crystal and the transformations it
experiences. Detail the processes which would take place along each portion of this journey.
Answer: The quartz crystal would originally form from magma, cooling deep in Earth's interior.
Because it's part of an intrusion of magma, it cools slowly, so there's plenty of time to grow a
nice coarse quartz crystal. It forms last among the minerals in the crystallizing magma, as
predicted in Bowen's reaction series. Because of the felsic composition and the coarse grain size,
the rock that this quartz (mineral) grain is part of would be referred to as a granite. Once
solidified, time goes by, and the granite is uplifted towards the surface. When it gets to the
surface, it is attacked by chemical and mechanical weathering. Sheeting occurs, and carbonic
acid in rainwater helps to break down the quartz's neighboring feldspars. The few dark silicate
minerals in the granite are oxidized. One day, in a big storm, the quartz crystal breaks free and is
tumbled down a small stream along with a bunch of clay minerals. The small stream feeds into a
big river, and the quartz grain eventually is transported to the ocean. There, it is deposited on a
beach full of similar sand-sized grains of quartz. Over geologic time, these sand layers are buried
and subjected to confining pressure, and they become lithified to form a sandstone. A new
intrusion of magma occurs nearby, and the sandstone is "cooked" by its heat. The small quartz
grains recrystallize, fusing together and forming large, equidimensional grains that are randomly
oriented. It is now a quartzite, a metamorphic rock.
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