Rock and Mineral Quiz

Basalt

Although it is much less common on continents and islands, lava flows and flood underlie several percent of Earth's land surface Most of these are volcanic in origin and were formed by the rapid cooling and hardening of the lava flows. Some are intrusive having cooled inside the Earth's interior.

Limestone

Chalk is another type of this rock that is made up of very small single-celled organisms. Chalk is usually white or gray in color. this type of rock can easily be dissolved by acids. If you drop vinegar on limestone it will fizz. Put one of these rocks into a plastic jar and cover it with vinegar. Cover the jar and watch the bubbling of the calcium carbonate and also the disintegration of the rock over a few days

Mica

Clear colored of this mineral is called Muscovite because it is found near Moscow, Russia and was used as window glass in the Muscovite's homes. Muscovite contains water which helps to make it clear. Biotite is the dark green to black in color of this mineral because it contains iron and magnesium

Pumice

Ground to a powder, it is used as an abrasive in polish compounds and in Lava© soap

Hematite

It has no cleavage and breaks with an uneven fracture. The reddish landscape of Mars is due to the oxidized iron on its surface. This tells us that water and oxygen must have been present on Mars at one time

Which State is Known as the Granite State?

New hampshire

Feldspar

The clays formed by weathered mineral are used by pottery manufacturing plants. Kaolinite is the highest quality of this minerals clays used by potters. it is number 6 on the Mohs hardness scale

Gneiss

The minerals that compose this rock are the same as granite. Feldspar is the most important mineral that makes up this rock along with mica and quartz. it can be formed from a sedimentary rock such as sandstone or shale, or it can be formed from the metamorphism of the igneouse rock grantite.

Basalt

They are the most widespread of all the igneous rocks. underlies more of Earth's surface than any other rock type. Most areas within Earth's ocean basins are underlain by this type. B

Hematite

Today the addition of other minerals to iron has lead to the production of steel which is vital to the economy of the major countries on Earth.it has a red or black color but the streak is always red. The iron in the mineral turns red when it comes in contact with water and oxygen. In other words this rock is rusted!!

Feldspar

When it is exposed to the atmosphere they break down or weather easily. When they are broken down, it forms other minerals, many of which are clay minerals. this mineral also contain potassium which is a major nutrient for plant growth

Pumice

You can see where little pockets of air had been. This rock is so light, that many of these rocks will actually float in water

Obsidian

a very shiny natural volcanic glass. it is produced when lava cools very quickly. The lava cools so quickly that no crystals can form. When people make glass they melt silica rocks like sand and quartz then cool it rapidly by placing it in water. this rock is produced in nature in a similar way. this rock is usually black or a very dark green, but it can also be found in an almost clear form

Basalt

are dark colored, fine-grained extrusive rock. The mineral grains are so fine that they are impossible to distinguish with the naked eye or even a magnifying glass

slate

is a fine-grained metamorphic rock with perfect cleavage that allows it to split into thin sheets. it is usually has a light to dark brown streak. this rock is produced by low grade metamorphism, which is caused by relatively low temperatures and pressures.

Chalk

is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. It forms under relatively deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates (coccoliths) shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores. It is common to find flint and chert nodules embedded in this rock

granite

is an igneous rock that is composed of four minerals. These minerals are quartz, feldspar, mica, and usually hornblende. it forms as magma cools far under the earth's surface. Because it hardens deep underground it cools very slowly. This allows crystals of the four minerals to grow large enough to be easily seen by the naked eye.

Quartz

it can be broken or weathered into the tiny pieces we know as sand.it is a very hard mineral and in fact is the hardest of the common minerals

Pumice

it is actually a kind of glass and not a mixture of minerals. Because this rock is so light, it is used quite often as a decorative landscape stone

Pumice

these rocks are igneous rocks which were formed when lava cooled quickly above ground

Sandstone

this is a clastic sedimentary rock that forms from the cementing together of sand sized grains forming a solid rock. Quartz is the most abundant mineral that forms sandstone. Calcium carbonate, silica, or iron has been added to the water that is in contact with the sand grains. These minerals grow crystals in the spaces around the sand grains. As the crystals fill the gaps the individual sand grains are now transformed into a solid rock

Halite (Rock salt)

this is a common table salt. It forms where brakish (salty) lakes or sea beds dry up. This evaporation of the water causes the salt to precipitate forming the salt crystals. it frequently occurs in crystal form. It is usually colorless but can be reddish brown because of iron oxides in the water that it forms in

Gabbro

this is a dark colored, coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock. it is very similar to basalt in its mineral make up. It is composed mostly of the mineral plagioclase feldspar with smaller amounts of pyroxene and olivine.

Scoria

this is a dark-colored, vesicular, extrusive igneous rock The vesicles are a result of trapped gas within the melt at the time of solidification It often forms as a frothy crust on the top of a lava flow or as material ejected from a volcanic vent and solidifying while airborne

Andesite

this is a fine-grained, extrusive igneous rock composed mainly of plagioclase with other minerals such as hornblende, pyroxene and biotite Formed from volcanic eruptions (extrusive)

Augite

this is a greenish-black mineral that is found in many igneous rocks. It is found in many igneous rocks such as gabbro and basalt. this mineral has a hardness of 5-6.5 with a vitreous luster and a prismatic cleavage.

Gneiss

this is a high grade metamorphic rock. This means that it has been subjected to more heat and pressure than schist. it is coarser than schist and has distinct banding. This banding has alternating layers that are composed of different minerals.

Schist

this is a metamorphic rock with well developed foliation It often contains significant amounts of mica which allow the rock to split into thin pieces

Mica

this is a mineral that can be split into very thin sheets. These sheets can be so thin that 1000 can be layered into mica 1 inch high. it can be clear, black, green, red, yellow, and brown.

Magnetite

this is a mineral that has a very high iron content. it has a black or brownish-red color and a black streak. It has a hardness of about 6 on the Mohs hardness scale. It is one of two minerals in the world that is naturally magnetic. it is also known as lodestone, is found throughout the United States. this mineral is an important source of iron ore and occurs in many igneous rocks.

Chert

this is a very hard sedimentary rock that is usually found in nodules in limestone.it is light gray to dark gray in color. It probably formed from the remains of ancient sea sponges or other ocean animals that have been fossilized. Silica has replaced the tissue forming the sedimentary rock. Flint is a very dark form of this rock. It breaks like obsidian with conchoidal fractures making it widely used by ancient people to make arrowheads, spear heads, and knives.

Diorite

this is an igneous rock, something between a granite and a gabbro. It consists of low-calcium (sodic) plagioclase feldspar, the light mineral, and black hornblende. Unlike granite, it has no or very little quartz; unlike gabbro it is fairly light colored and has sodic, not calcic plagioclase. Extrusive lava will form andesite

Galena

this is an important source of lead. this mineral's chemical symbol is PbS, which is lead and sulfur. it may also contain silver. The United States is the leading producer of lead in the world. Lead was used in pencils and paint until it was found to be poisonous to humans . Today pencil "lead" is made of another mineral called graphite.

Coal

this is an organic sedimentary rock that forms from the accumulation and preservation of plant materials, usually in a swamp environment it is a combustible rock and along with oil and natural gas it is one of the three most important fossil fuels this rock has a wide range of uses; the most important use is for the generation of electricity

Gypsum

this is one of the more common minerals in sedimentary environments. It is a major rock forming mineral that produces massive beds, usually from precipitation out of highly saline waters. Since it forms easily from saline water, this mineral can have many inclusions of other minerals and even trapped bubbles of air and water

Feldspar

this is the most abundant mineral in rocks that are located at or near the earth's surface. it can have glassy white, blue, green, or red crystals. All of these contain silica and aluminum.

Limestone

this is the most abundant of the non-clastic sedimentary rocks. it is produced from the mineral calcite (calcium carbonate) and sediment. The main source of this rock is the limy ooze formed in the ocean. The calcium carbonate can be precipitated from ocean water or it can be formed from sea creatures that secrete lime such as algae and coral.

Hematite

this is the most important source of iron ore in the world. The production of iron has been important to nations of the world for over 2500 years. it has a metallic or earthy luster. The hardness of this mineral is about 5 on Mohs hardness scale.

Quartz

this mineral can be colored yellow, milky white, rose, smoky (brown or black), and the best known of the colored crystals amethyst, which is purple. Impurities in the rock at the time of formation causes the quartz crystal to have these different colors.

Apatite

this mineral is actually three different minerals depending on the predominance of either fluorine, chlorine or the hydroxyl group. An irony of the name of this mineral is that it is the mineral that makes up the teeth in all vertebrate animals as well as their bones Color is typically green but also yellow, blue, reddish brown and purple.

Pyrite

this mineral is also known as iron sulfide. It is one of the most common minerals on the Earth's surface. Many people call it "Fools Gold" because the crystal resemble gold in color.

Galena

this mineral is an lead sulfide and the main source of lead. it usually occurs in cubic crystals. If you hit a specimen of it with a hammer it will shatter into small perfect cubic crystals. It has a metallic luster and a black to dark gray color and streak. it has a hardness of about 2.5 on Mohs hardness scale which is about as hard as your finger nail.

Pyrite

this mineral is much harder than gold and it looses its glitter quickly when exposed to the air. In fact when it is rubbed on a streak plate the streak will be green to dark gray. it has a hardness of 6.5 on the Mohs hardness scale

Calcite

this mineral is pure calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is found in limestone and marble. It is the cementing agent that binds sediments together into sedimentary rocks. Marble is metamorphosed (changed by heat and pressure) limestone.

Shale

this rock is a type of sedimentary rock formed from clay that is compacted together by pressure. They are used to make bricks and other material that is fired in a kiln.

Marble

this rock is metamorphosed limestone or dolomite. Both limestone and dolomite have a large concentration of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). it has many different sizes of crystals. this rock has many color variances due to the impurities present at formation. Some of the different colors of it are white, red, black, mottled and banded, gray, pink, and green.

Rhyolite

this rock is very closely related to granite. The difference is that it has much finer crystals. These crystals are so small that they can not be seen by the naked eye. it is an extrusive igneous rock having cooled much more rapidly than granite, giving it a glassy appearance. The minerals that make up rhyolite are quartz, feldspar, mica, and hornblende.