Rock Hound ES Science Olympiad

Arsenic

(n.) a grayish-white element having a metallic luster, vaporizing when heated, and forming poisonous compounds; arsenic trioxide; a mineral, the native element; (adj.) of or containing arsenic Mineral

Lignite Coal

-Lowest rank of coal, brownish black, visible plant material, crumbly, organic rock. a brown coal that gives off an offensive odor and large amounts of black, sooty smoke. it is the poorest quality of coal and is almost exclusively used for steam-electric power generation

Arkose

-Very coarse sandstone, mostly quartz and feldspar, -usually pink or gray. Sedimentary Rock Clastic, sandy, reddish-pink, sedimentary Sedimentary

Shale

A fine-grained sedimentary rock (grains finer than 1/16 millimeter in diameter) formed by the cementation of silt and clay (mud). Has thin layers (laminations) and an ability to split (fissility) into small chips. A fine-grained clastic rock composed of silt plus a significant component of clay, which causes it to break readily along bedding planes. A sedimentary rock that is a deposit of clay fragments that have become rocks as a result of pressure. The flaky clay particles are usually pressed into flat layers, so this tends to split into flat pieces. Sedimentary

Geode

A hollow rock inside which mineral crystals have grown

Rhyolite

A light-brown to gray, fine-grained extrusive igneous rock with a felsic composition. The extrusive equivalent of granite. Composition-quartz,plagioclase and sanidine Enviorment-Usally formed near volcanic eruption Grain size-Aphanitic (fine grained) Texture-Phenocrysts,alternating layer of grains,banded

Magnetite

A lot like hematite, except it is magnetic, gray or black streak, leaves black powder on your hands

Gabbro

A mafic, coarse-grained igneous rock composed predominantly of ferromagnesian minerals and with lesser amounts of calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar. Coarse-grained, dark-colored. Usually black or dark green in color and composed mainly of the minerals plagioclase and augite. Most abundant rock in the deep oceanic crust.

Bauxite

A mineral used in making aluminum An ore of aluminium, more common than cryolite but cannot be used in the electrolysis cell due to its high melting point.

Conglomerate

A sedimentary rock composed of rounded gravel-size particles. A classic sedimentary rock composed of rounded pieces of rock, pebbles, and sand cemented together. "Nature's Concrete" Sedimentary

Pumice

A type of igneous rock that contains air bubbles Abrasive agent made from volcanic rock A volcanic rock that has cavities within it. A volcanic rock, usually rhyolitic in composition, containing numerous cavities (vesicles) that remain after trapped gas has escaped from solidifying lava Igneous

Granite

A usually light colored igneous rock that is found in continental crust A usually light colored igneous rock that is found in continental crust, is the most abundant intrusive rock, and forms the core of many mountain ranges Igneous

Staurolite

Almost always forms short, prismatic crystals, can form cruciform twins

Ulexite

Almost always white, and looks like a densely-packed bundle of white threads, opaque in one direction, and conducts light in the other Occurs in silky white rounded crystalline masses or in parallel fibers White to light gray

Sphalerite

Almost any color, but usually yellowish, tan, or reddish, resinous luster.

Sodalite

Always blue, but usually a very dark, mottled blue. It's darker color and colorless streak tell it apart from azurite Always blue, but usually a very dark, mottled blue. Colorless streak.

Andesite

An intermediate colored rock, generally gray greenish-gray, Grain-Sized -also classed as an aphanite Texture-Porpyritic Structure-flow structure,vesicles Composition-Silica,Aluminia,Calcium Minerials-Quartz,Feldspar,Plagioclase feldspar,biotite mica Fine-grained. Usually gray, brown, or greenish.

Gneiss

Banded. Made up of granular mineral grains. It typically contains abundant quartz or feldspar minerals. Example of metamorphic rock that can be created from a number of different protoliths. Distinguished by APPEARANCE and CONDITIONS OF FORMATION, not by composition. Metamorphic

Diatomite

Biochemical rock, white, no Hcl reaction, similar to chalk Sedimentary a chalk-like, soft, friable, earthy, very fine-grained, siliceous sedimentary rock, usually light in color (white if pure, commonly buff to gray in situ, and rarely black). It is very finely porous, very low in density (floating on water at least until saturated), and essentially chemically inert in most liquids and gases. ______ is now used mainly as a filter aid

Hematite

Black and shiny, dark gray and dull, or rusty red, almost always cool to the touch. Streak- red. Common iron ore nicknamed bloodstone. Black and shiny when it occurs in crystals. These samples can be polished and be used for jewelry. Mineral

Hornblende

Black with short stubby crystals, and usually striated lengthwise. Vitreous. NM. H = 5.5. Streak: white to pale gray. Color dark gray to black; forms prisms with good cleavage and 56 and 124 degrees. Brittle; splintery or asbestos forms. Mineral

Graphite

Black, greasy, used to make lead in pencils (both mechanical and regular) black form of carbon Arranged in flat layers Mineral

Basalt

Black, hard A dark, dense, igneous rock with a fine texture, found in oceanic crust A dark, fine-grained rock Igneous

Tiger Eye

Brown and shiny tan Shaped like a trapezoid

Dolostone

Chemical sedimentary rock composed of calcium-magnesium carbonate, a converted form of calcite, and fizzes when in contact with hydrochloric acid An abundant carbonate rock composed primarily of dolomite and formed by the diagenesis of carbonate sediments and limestones.

Breccia

Clastic, coarse sized grains, usually near-surface faults, angular clasts A coarsely clastic rock consisting of relatively large angular fragments bonded in a matrix of finer particles. Conglomerate. A clastic sedimentary rock that is made up of rock fragments with sharp edges compacted and cemented together Hardness: 7

Diorite

Coarse-grained igneous rock of intermediate composition. Up to half of the rock is plagioclase feldspar and the rest is ferromagnesian minerals. A rock: igneous, has a moderate amount of dark silicates

Olivine

Color: Light green Common magnesium iron silicate mineral often found in dark-colored igneous rocks. They are a primary mineral in the upper mantle, but can also be found in some lunar rocks and meteorites. Green to yellow-green in color.

Rhodonite

Comes in all shades of pink and red. It's usually massive, but sometimes crystalline a pink or red mineral containing crystalline manganese silicate

Galena

Composition: Lead sulfide. May contain impurities, such as silver, arsenic, antimony, and copper Dark gray; metallic luster; Dark gray streak; Hardness: 2.5; Isometric crystal Mineral

Almandine

Dark red, garnet violet-coloured garnet a deep red garnet consisting of iron aluminum silicate Mineral

Bornite

Dark, purplish-blue tarnish Bornite has a hardness of 3-3.25 and a metallic luster. It has a grayish black streak and a conchoidal fracture. It also has three faces of cleavage. It has a orthohombic crystal structure.

Scoria

Dark-colored. Air bubbles. Light. Igneous Extrusive Igneous Rock A volcanic rock containing many holes

Volcanic Cinder

Ejecta that are larger than volcanic dust particles but less than 32 mm A pyroclastic fragment about 1 cm in diameter Igneous

Topaz

Extremely variable color, but usually comes in well-formed prismatic crystals. This mineral and gemstone is the birthstone for the month of November. It is a silicate mineral of aluminum and fluorine, and comes in a variety of colors, from blue to straw yellow. 8 on the Mohs Scale.

Slate

Fine grained meta-shale has very planar cleavage and breaks into big flat sheets Fine-grained, dark gray. Sheets. Because of the ease with which it can be split into thin flat sheets, this metamorphic rock is used for making chalkboard, pool tables, and roofs A very fined-grained, low-grade, metamorphic rock with slaty cleavage; the product of metamporphism of shale. Metamorphic

Mica-muscovite

Flat, smooth, seems delicate Mineral

Gypsum Satin-Spar

Formed through evaporated salt water Hardness: 2 Mineral

Phyllite

Gradation in the degree of metamorphism between slate and schist; Platy minerals not large enough to be identified with the unaided eye; Glossy sheen and wavy surface A foliated rock that is intermediate in grade between slate and schist. Small crystals of mica and chlorite give it a more or less glossy sheen.

Anthracite coal

Harder than bituminous coal

Corundum

Hardness of 9 on the Mohs Scale

Talc

Hardness: 1 Luster: pearly Streak: white to pale green Cleavage: perfect Fracture: flat surfaces, fracture in an uneven pattern Density: 2.75 Uses: baby powder, plastics, paper and specialized ceramics. Color: green, white, gray, brown, colorless Chemical formula: Mg3Si4O10(OH)2

Mica-biotite

Hardness: 2.5-3 Luster: Pearly Streak: White Cleavage: 1,1 Fracture: Uneven Density: 2.8-3.4, average is 3.09 Uses: constrain ages of rocks, by either potassium-argon dating or argon-argon dating Color: Dark brown, Greenish brown, Blackish brown, Yellow, White Chemical formula: K(Mg,Fe++)3[AlSi3O10(OH,F)2

Marble

Hardness: 3-4 Luster: dull to pearly to subvitreous Streak: white Cleavage: perfect Density: 2.6-2.8 Formula: CaCO3 Uses: sculpture, construction, Can be many colors Coarse, crystalline; Parent rock was limestone or dolostone; Composed essentially of calcite or dolomite crystals; Used as a decorative and monument stone; Exhibits a variety of colors Metamorphic rock

Azurite

Hardness: 3.5-4 Luster: Vitreous or dull Streak: Light blue Cleavage: 2.1 and 3.2 Fracture: Conchoidal or splintery Density: 3.77-3.89, the average is 3.83 Uses: polished into cabchons and beads, sometimes cut into ornaments, ore of copper, formerly crushed and used as a blue pigment Color: Blue to very dark blue Chemical formula: Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2

Fluorite

Hardness: 4 (defining mineral) Luster: Vitreous Streak: White Cleavage: Octahedral Fracture: Subconchoidal to uneven Density: 3.01-3.25 Uses: flux for smelting, production of certain glasses and enamels, hydrofluoric acid manufacture Color: Colorless, although samples are often deeply colored owing to impurities Chemical formula: CaF2

Feldspar

Hardness: 6-6.5 Luster: Vitreous Streak: white Cleavage: two or three Fracture: along cleavage planes Density: 2.56 Uses: ceramics, glassmaking, a filler and extender in paint, plastics, and rubber Color: pink, white, gray, brown Igneous rock that is rich in calcium any of a group of hard crystalline minerals that consist of aluminum silicates of potassium or sodium or calcium or barium May sparkle when put under light

Quartz (crystal)

Hardness: 7 - lower in impure varieties Luster: Vitreous - waxy to dull when massive Streak: White Cleavage: Indistinct Fracture: Conchoidal Density: 2.65 Uses: excellent gemstone, hard, durable, accepts a brilliant polish, glassmaking, abrasive, foundry sand, hydaulic fracturing, proppant Color: Colorless through various colors to black Chemical formula: SiO2

Pyrite

Hrdness: 6-6.5 Luster: metallic and glistening Streak: greenish-black to brownish-black Cleavage: indistinct Fracture: very uneven, sometimes conchoidal Density: 4.8-5 g/cm^3 Formula: FeS2 Cubic Uses: production of sulfur dioxide, lithium batteries, jewelry Mineral

Beryl

Light green and opaque

Calcite

Looks almost like fluorite and can be any color, but it's a little softer and it has a more rhombus like shape. DISSOLVES IN HCI ACID. A mineral that is usually the main component of limestone. Mineral Has dipyramidal or cubic structure

Kaolinite

Looks like chalk. No cleavage. White-gray to yellow-brown. Looks like chalk but is actually clay Mineral Clay mineral formed by the weathering of rocks that contain feldspar Mineral

Cinnabar

Mineral that is the chief source of mercury, used to make vermillion Red

Molybdenite

MoS2, hexagonal, perfect cleavage, foliated massive or in scales, H1-1.5, greasy feel, metallic luster, lead-grey colour, greenish to greyish-black streak, opaque Metallic element for making steel

Dolomite

NM. H = 3.5 - 4. Streak: white. Color white, gray, creme, or pink. Usually opaque. Cleavage excellent in 3 directions. Breaks into rhombohedrons. Resembles calcite, but will effervesce in dilute HCl only if powdered.

Selenite

Non-metal, does not scratch glass, scratched by penny, scratched by finger, clear, blanded or tabular habit Mineral

Augite

Nondescript black rock, greenish tinge and cleavage at a right angle an important member of the pyroxene family; it is a ferromagnesian mineral also, and is dark colored and stumpy in shape.

Lepidolite

Pretty pink or lilac color, has darker purple dots, type of mica

Halite

Rock salt mineral Chemical Sedimentary rock Cubic crystal, salty taste, dissolves in water Color: colorless red, white, blue

Limonite

Slightly iridescent tarnish, brownish, orange-black.

Gypsum (alabaster)

Streak - white. Colorless transparent also grey and white. A rock-forming mineral in evaporative beds. Gypsum can be identified by its hardnes and white, tan or buff color. It forms in massive beds. Gypsum is made into sheetrock used in walls in homes. massive

Peridot

The closest in chemical composition to the upper mantle. An ultramafic rock with large grains A rock made up mostly of silicon, oxygen, and the transition metals iron, and magnesium that is denser than the basalt and granite that make up Earth's crust.

Bituminous coal

The most common form of coal; produces a high amount of heat and is used extensively by electric power plants. black, flat, shiny, biochemical Sedimentary Extensively used as a fuel because of its high heat content and large supplies; normally has a high sulfur content (soft coal) Not to be mistaken for Anthracite Coal or Lignite Coal Sedimentary

Amazonite

The only green feldspar, glassy. Bright green, blue, white, yellow; rarely red Rock Sedimentary Metamorphic

Quartz (chert)

Type of quartz Mineral

Chromite

Used in dyes Mineral

Celestite

Usually a soft, translucent white or blue a mineral consisting of strontium sulphate

Tremolite

Usually comes in small, bladed crystals. It's light-colored and sometimes transparent. Commercially, tremolite was used as asbesto Usually comes in small, bladed crystals, light-colored and sometimes transparent. Asbestos.

Apatite

Usually green or purple, but can be almost any color. Hardness of 5 on the Mohs Scale Mineral

Copper

Usually has green tarnish. Metallic luster, 2 - 3 hardness, 1st metal used by humans, used in electrical wires because it conducts electricity very well, rose colored streak, shiny mineral Mineral

Chalcopyrite

Very brassy yellow, tarnishes bright red, purple, yellow, and orange. Metallic. H = 3.5 - 4. Streak: dark gray. Color bright silvery gold, tarnishes bronze, brassy gold or iridescent blue-green and red; brittle; No cleavage. Forms dense masses or elongate tetrahedrons.

Gypsum (selenite)

Vitreous; looks like a cloudy piece of glass

Obsidian

Volcanic glass with a smooth uniform texture that breaks with a conchoidal fracture. BLACK. Igneous rock. A usually black or banded, hard volcanic glass that displays shiny, curved surfaces when fractured and is formed by rapid cooling of lava Igneous

Barite

White and kind of platy, but very heavy because it contains barium. Mineral Commonly used as a weighting agent for all types of drilling fluids, these minerals are mined in many areas worldwide and shipped as ore to grinding plants in strategic locations, where API specifies grinding to a particle size of 3 to74 microns.

Aragonite

White, powdery variety of calcite Composition: Calcium carbonate, sometimes with some stronrium, lead, ad zin

Albite

White, tan, or cream feldspar a widely distributed rock-forming feldspar Sedimentary Metamorphic Feldspar-Plagioclase Serise

Muscovite

White, yellow, or tan mica. Thin and platy. Hardeness-2-2.5 Crystal System-Monocline Luster-Pearly Specific Gravity-2.7-3.0 Fracture-Uneven

Sapphire

a blue gem Blue corundum Gemstone for September Mineral

Pegmatite

a form of igneous rock consisting of extremely coarse granite resulting from the crystallization of magma rich in rare elements a very coarse-grained igneous rock (typically granite) commonly found as a dike associated with a large mass of plutonic rock that has smaller crystals; crystallization in a water-rich environment is believed to be responsible for the very large crystals

Coquina

a fossil limestone where bits and pieces of shells are visible, made of calcite, A rock: sedimentary, composed of calcite with visible and loosely cemented shells and shell fragments.

Kyanite

a gray or greenish-blue mineral consisting of aluminum silicate in crystalline form Metamorphic Mineral mineral found in metamorphic rocks; blue,,very pale green,white or gray; white,colorless streak; vitreous,pearly luster; perfect cleavage in 2 directions; 4-7 hardness; bladed crystals; triclinic crystal structure; distinguishing characteristics are color, cleavage and bladed crystals

Malachite

a green mineral used as an ore of copper and for making ornamental objects Always green, with a green streak.

Jadeite

a hard green mineral consisting of sodium aluminum silicate in monoclinic crystalline form Not to be confused with nephrite

Sandstone

a sedimentary rock consisting of sand consolidated with some cement (clay or quartz etc.) A sedimentary rock formed by the consolidation and compaction of sand and held together by a natural cement, such as silica Sedimentary

Moonstone

a shiny, white gemstone A potassium based member of the feldspar group, and offers the gem phenomena of adularescence....the reflected light that appears to float around the stone as it is rotated.

Tufa

a soft, porous, volcanic rock that hardens on exposure to air, used as a building material; easy to work hard volcanic rock composed of compacted volcanic ash Igneous

Carnelian

a translucent red or orange variety of chalcedony a red or reddish variety of chalcedony, used in jewelry

Bloodstone

a type of green chalcedony spotted or streaked with red often used as a gemstone Birthstone for March

Agate

an impure form of quartz consisting of banded chalcedony a type of quartz with clouded or colored stripes a stone having a marbled texture a type of quartz with clouded or striped coloring Mineral

Porphyry

any igneous rock with crystals embedded in a finer groundmass of minerals a porphyritic texture Igneous

Epidote

colors are pistachio green, green, blackish-green, and brown. The color, hardness, and appearance are generally sufficient to identify this mineral NM. H = 6 - 7. Streak: White. Color pale or dark green to yellow-green; massive or forms striated prisms; Cleavage poor.

Labradorite

deep blue/green irridescent Feldspar (in that group), igneous

Limestone (fossiliferous)

fossily, gritty, heavy, lots of sand size grains, reacts with acid, biochemical Composed of the fossilized shells of marine organisms Sedimentary

Opal

having a play of lustrous rainbow-like colors

Arsenopyrite

knife doesn't scratch it. streak: gray/black. hardness: 5.5-6. color: silver/white/armor. opaque. metallic luster. crystals common. poor cleavage. monoclinic. FeAsS, monoclinic, prismatic crystals elongated on c, poor cleavage, H5.5-6, metallic luster, silver-white colour, black streak Mineral

Schist (garnet)

metamorphic Used as an abrasive

Microcline(Amazonite)

most abundant mineral family on Earth. hardness and 2 directional cleavage cleavage is good and perfect; 6.0 hardness; 2.5 SG; vitreous/pearly; cream, pink, green; streaks white; generally obnoxiously deep sea foam green

Diopside

prismatic, green, vitreous, 5-6 hardness Mineral

Citrine

semiprecious yellow quartz resembling topaz dark greenish-yellow A yellow to orange form of Quartz. Rarely formed naturally, most are heat treated amethyst Birthstone for November Mineral

Aquamarine

the blue-green color of water Blue variety of the mineral beryl.