National Certificate of Educational Achievement
90190
SCIENCE, 2002
Level 1
1.5 Describe rocks and minerals.
Credits: Three
INSTRUCTIONS
Answer ALL questions.
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© New Zealand Qualifications Authority, 2002
All rights reserved. This publication may be reproduced for use with students and the training of teachers for the implementation of NCEA.
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You are advised to spend 35 minutes answering the questions in this booklet.
QUESTION ONE
Jocelyn has a collection of rocks and minerals. She wants to group them on the basis of similar properties.
(a)
Name THREE properties that could be used to group the minerals.
(b)
(i)
Name a common use for the mineral calcite.
(ii)
Explain how ONE chemical or physical property of calcite makes it suitable for the use given
in (b) (i) above.
Jocelyn selects two minerals from her collection. These are described below.
Mineral X:
Pale pink colour, shows six-sided crystals, has a
glass-like lustre, scratches apatite but not diamond, shows no
cleavage.
Mineral Y:
Brown colour, thin elastic crystal flakes, has a pearly
lustre, scratches gypsum but not calcite, cleaves into thin sheets.
(c)
Use the information in the mineral key below to identify Mineral X and Mineral Y.
(i)
Mineral X is:
(ii)
Mineral Y is:
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Mineral Key
(d)
Use the information given in the mineral key to write a description of the mineral fluorite.
(e)
Limestone is a rock rich in the mineral calcite. Explain how limestone is formed.
(f)
Marble is a rock that is formed from limestone.
(i)
What type of rock is marble?
(ii)
Discuss how marble is formed from limestone and why we can now find marble on the
surface of the Earth.
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QUESTION TWO
Jocelyn found some of her rocks in the Waikiwi quarry. The diagram below shows the sequence of rocks
exposed in the quarry and gives information on their formation. The sequence is the correct way up.
Rocks in the
Waikiwi quarry
Environment in which rocks were deposited
and sediment types present
Coal
Swampy environment close to or on land.
Little or no sediments.
Siltstone
Estuary or relatively quiet water environment.
Fine grained sediments.
Sandstone
(i)
Conglomerate
(ii)
(a)
Complete the chart above to describe the environments and sediment types that would have
resulted in the formation of sandstone and conglomerate.
(b)
Name the youngest rock in the quarry.
(c)
Discuss the geological events that could have caused the rock sequence in the Waikiwi quarry to
occur.
Include ideas relating to changes to the land and water currents that would be necessary to form the
sequence found at the Waikiwi quarry.
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QUESTION THREE
Close to the Waikiwi quarry, Jocelyn finds the rock basalt. Jocelyn’s teacher tells her that basalt and gabbro
are similar rocks except that basalt is a fine-grained rock.
(a)
What type of rock are basalt and gabbro?
In New Zealand, basalt is sold as a building material. The following picture shows the Timaru War Memorial
that is built out of basalt.
For copyright reasons, the resource cannot be reproduced here. See below.
[www.timaru-bluestone.co.nz.]
(b)
Explain how the physical and chemical properties of basalt make it suitable for building structures
such as the one shown in the photograph above.
(c)
Draw a labelled diagram to show how and where the rocks basalt and gabbro are formed by a volcano.