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Mineral
A pure substance
Naturally occurring
Inorganic (not organic- was never living)
Solid
About 4000 found on earth – most are rare.
About 150 common minerals – lots found in Newfoundland and Labrador
Some minerals look the same but are different and some look different but
are the same.
How do you tell them apart?
1. Lustre - Shininess
Lustre
Metallic lustre
Glassy lustre
Dull lustre
Looks like
Polished metal
Reflects light like a
piece of glass
Doesn’t reflect light
Example
Pyrite, Gold
Calcite
Chalk
2. Colour
Helps to identify minerals but is not perfect - different minerals could have
the same colour and similar minerals could have different colours.
Ex. Gold has a golden colour, but so does pyrite (fool’s gold)
Quarts, calcite and corundum are all white.
3. Streak
Rub the mineral across a piece of
porcelain tile, the mark it makes is called
a streak and is a powdered form of the
mineral. Some minerals will streak the
same colour regardless of the colour it
looks on the outside. Ex gold streaks
yellow and pyrite streaks greenish black
or brown. This is a picture of pyrite and
iron ore and looks way better in colour.
T
4. Hardness - How difficult is it to scratch.
Moh’s hardness scale – 10 standard minerals with a hardness value of 110. The higher the number, the harder the mineral.
Remember:
The Good Cop From Avondale Fought Quickly To Catch Dave.
Moh’s Hardness Scale Pg. 319
Hardness
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Mineral
Talc
Gypsum
Calcite
Fluorite
Apatite
Feldspar
Quartz
Topaz
Corundum
Diamond
5. Cleavage
Splits along smooth flat surfaces called
planes ex. Mica (ak muscovite)
Not all minerals have cleavage.
6.
7.
8.
6. Fracture
Breaks without a definite shape with curvy,
rough, splintery, bumpy or jagged edges
(anything but smooth and flat) ex. Quartz.
Similar Hardness
Pencil 1.5
Fingernail 2.5
Copper penny 3.5
Iron nail 4.5
Glass 5.5
Steel file 6.5
Streak plate 7
Sandpaper 7.5
Emery paper 9.0
10 the hardest
7. Other
a. Crystal structure – ex pyrite (see
picture) or Quartz – Crystal
structure is sometimes too small
to see.
b. Heft – how heavy it feels.
c. Magnetism
d. Acid
e. Whether the surface feels
powdery, soapy or greasy.
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Rock
A mixture of two or more minerals
Can form deep inside the earth, on the earth’s crust or in water found
on the earth’s surface.
Can form fairly quickly or over millions of years.
Rocks are grouped into three families based on how they are formed.
1. Igneous – forms when molten (melted) rock from inside the earth cools
and becomes solid.
2. Sedimentary – forms when sediment (sand, silt, small rocks, bits of other
stuff) get squished or cemented together
3. Metamorphic – when heat, pressure and hot liquid turns one kind of rock
into another kind of rock.
Igneous
Below the earth’s surface, temperature and
pressure are very high, so rocks melt. When molten
(melted) rock cools, crystals form. Geologists class
igneous rock by where it cools – either above or
below the earth’s surface.
Below the earth’s surface:
Magma is molten rock under the earth’s surface.
When magma cools and hardens, it is called
Intrusive rock. Magma has a chance to cool more
slowly, so large, organized crystals have time to form.
Ex. granite.
Above the earth’s surface:
Lava – molten rock above the earth’s surface – like what comes out of
volcanoes. When lava cools (above the surface) it is called Extrusive rock.
This cools much more quickly, so small crystals are all that have time to form.
Basalt (left) – only small
crystals have time to
form
Obsidian (right) – no
crystals have time to
form, has sharp edges
like glass
Sedimentary
Sediment is loose particles – bits of rocks,
minerals and decaying plants and animals.
Sediment slowly settles on top of other sediment,
on top of other sediment, on top of other sediment
(see the layers in the picture?) in places like
oceans or river beds. It forms layers called beds.
The layers get squeezed together, this is called
compaction. Sometimes, water soaks into the
rock and other minerals dissolve forming a natural
cement. This is called cementation.
Geologists class sedimentary rocks by the size of their grains.
 Small grains – formed from fine mud and silt - Shale
 Medium grains – formed from sand – Sandstone
 Large particles – formed from small pebbles and stones that are cemented
together - in fact, it looks like concrete – Conglomerate
 Limestone – formed with shells and skeletons of animals – a great place
to find fossils.
Metamorphic
Below the surface of the earth, where there is a lot of heat, pressure and hot
fluids, it can change one kind of rock into another kind of rock. This is called
metamorphic rock. Metamorphic rock can be made from any other kind of rock igneous, sedimentary or another metamorphic rock – this would be called the
parent rock.
Ex. If granite (an igneous rock) gets put under a lot of pressure, the mineral
grains get squeezed closer together, it becomes gneiss (sounds like “nice”), a
metamorphic rock.
Granite
Gneiss
(Interesting fact: if you can see this
picture in colour, the little rusty red
bits in the gneiss are garnet.)
Hot fluids can flow into rocks and change it both physically and chemically. This
is a very looooonnnngggg, sloooooowwwwww process. Sometimes the rock
changes so much that it doesn’t even look like the parent rock any more.
Parent rock + Heat, Pressure or Hot Liquid 
Granite (igneous)
Shale (sedimentary) 
Sandstone (sedimentary) 
Limestone (sedimentary) 
Metamorphic rock
Gneiss
Slate
Quartzite
Marble
NAME
Sedimentary
limestone;
sandstone;
chalk;
coal;
shale;
conglomerate
Igneous
pumice;
granite;
basalt;
obsidian
Metamorphic
marble;
slate;
gneiss;
schist;
quartzite;
CAUSE
Layers of sediment (mud,
sand, gravel and minerals)
settle, and are compacted or
cemented together over
thousands of years
LOCATION
Where oceans or
bodies of water
once existed or
still exist
OTHER
Soft,
layered, may
contain
fossils
Molten rock cools either
inside the earth’s crust
(magma – intrusive – fast
small crystals) or outside the
earth’s crust (lava – extrusive
– slow – bigger crystals)
Created when sedimentary or
igneous rocks undergo
change caused by pressure,
heat, and hot liquid acting on
the rocks
Where volcanoes
have or do exist
crystalline,
glossy,
coarsegrained
Deep within the
earth – pressure,
heat and hot
liquid
hard, may
contain
bands or
layers, may
contain
crystals
Structure of the Earth
The earth is made up of four main layers
1. The Crust – thin layer of solid rock covering the earth and is anywhere
from 5 to 70 km thick (the diameter of the earth is about 12,700 km).
This crust is thinner under the oceans (oceanic crust) and thicker under
the continents (continental crust). Oceanic crust is mostly made of
basalt (extrusive) and the continental crust is mostly made of granite
(intrusive). The crust is broken into pieces that “float” on the mantle and
are always moving.
2. The Mantle – the largest layer. The upper mantle is mostly solid rock,
but the lower mantle is partly melted rock (like taffy). It is melted
because it is closer to the hot core.
3. The Outer Core – so hot that iron and nickel are in liquid form.
4. The Inner Core – the deepest and hottest layer, iron and nickel, so
much pressure that they are compressed into a solid state.
How did scientists figure out what the Crust, Mantle and the Core are
like and what they are made up of? Nobody has ever been there and
there are no tools that can get that far into the ground.
They gather evidence and make guesses based on technologies like sonar,
magnetometers, seismographs, satellite imaging and core samples from deep
sea drilling.
Continents Move!
Why? Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) wanted to know.
Here is his theory:
The Theory of Continental Drift states that the
continents are very slowly but constantly moving - a few
centimeters each year.
Here is his evidence:
Untold
tragedies of
Continental
Drift
1. Paleogeographic Evidence - Shape of the
continents
Wegener noticed that the continents are shaped to
sortof fit together (see the bulge in South America
and the indent in Africa.) He thought that all the
continents used to fit together in one big continent
called Pangaea which broke apart about 200
million years ago into the continents that we now
know.
2. Biological evidence – Fossils
Wegener noticed that fossils of the same animals
could be found on different continents ex Avalon
Peninsula
and Wales
(in Britain) are 4000km away from each
other but the same animals have been
founding both places! Did those animals
travel 4000 km or did those animals once
live together and the land they were living
on split apart? This evidence seems to
support his theory of Continental Drift.
3. Geological evidence – Rocks and rock layers
Wegener noticed that geologists have found
similar rocks on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Appalachian mountain range in eastern
North America were formed the same way,
are the same age AND are made up of the
same rocks as the mountain range that
goes through Britain and Norway.
Coincidence? I think not! More evidence
for Continental Drift Theory.
4. Meteorological Evidence – Climate Change
Coal is formed from dead plants and animals in a tropical environment. But
coal can be found in colder climates like Canada, Europe and even Antarctica!
Some places that now have warm climates like Africa and India have evidence
that glaciers once covered them`. Did these places once have different
climates or did they move there from places with different climates?
Poor Wegener
Even with all the evidence Wegener found that supported his
Theory of Continental Drift, he couldn’t figure out how the
continents moved. Because of this, other scientists never did
believe him. They believed that the continents were fixed in
place.
A new theory – Evidence for Plate Techonics
In more recent years, new technology has been developed that allows scientists
to gather more evidence.
1. Sonar – Sound waves are bounced off the sea
floor. This can tell depth and features of the sea
floor. They found features that were the same as
found on land, including mountains, and one
particular mountain range called the Mid-Atlantic
Ridge.
2. Magnetometers – detect the strength and direction of a magnetic field.
Scientists noticed the direction of the magnetic field changed from north to
south and back again in a pattern that looked like stripes… and they were
parallel to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. How did this happen?
Remember that igneous rock is made from magma. As the magma cools the
iron (magnetite) stays in line with the magnetic field of the earth. The north and
south stripes in the magnetic field of the ocean floor were laid down with the
magnetic field in the earth (north pole, south pole), but reversed when the
magnetic field in the earth was reversed. Since the stripes line up with the
ridges, the sea floor’s rock is formed there and gets pushed away as
newer rocks form.
3. Deep sea drilling – core samples of rock taken by drilling
into the oceanic crust shows that younger rock is closer to
the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and older rock is farther away and
closer to the continents – more evidence that the sea floor is
spreading.
Core
samples
Plate tectonics
Check out www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/tectonics
Since the sea floor is
moving as well as the
continents, the old
theory of Continental
Drift needs to be
updated.
The new theory is called
Plate Tectonics
which means the earth’s
crust is broken up into
plates that are always
moving around the
earth’s mantle. The crustal plates are made up of continental crust (the land)
and oceanic crust (the land under the ocean).
Places where newly formed rock pushes the plates apart
like in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge are called Divergent
Boundaries.
Places where plates move together like in Japan are
called Convergent boundaries.
Places where plates slide past each other are called Transform Boundaries.
Plate tectonics is still the best theory, but scientists still don’t know why
continents move.
Convection Currents
One theory for why continents move has to do with convection currents in the
mantle under the earth’s crust that move the plates. Remember that hot air
rises and cool air sinks – this is called convection. The same happens with
liquids like magma.
Magma heats up in the inner mantle, moves to the outer mantle, and moves
along under the plate above it. As that cools, it sinks back down, moving the
crust on top of it along like a conveyor belt. As it moves down, it pulls the edge
of the plate down with it. The area where one plate is pulled under another is
called a Subduction Zone.
Canadian scientists who have made a contribution to local, regional and
global geology:
-J. Tuzo Wilson mapped out where earthquakes and volcanoes had occurred
over the earth’s surface helping to define the earth’s plates.
-Joseph Tyrell discovered dinosaur fossils in Alberta that proved that the local
climate was warmer at an earlier time
-Harold Williams talked about the plate tectonic activity along the eastern edge
of the North American continent.