GEOG106 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Azurite, Talc, Pyrite
3 Apr 2017
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Document Summary
Composition of earth: minerals are the building blocks of rocks which are in turn the building blocks of the landscape. For a substance to be considered a mineral, it must be: solid found in nature inorganic specific chemical composition. Contains atoms that arrange in patterns to form crystals. Mineral properties: help in identifying and differentiating minerals. Chemical composition: chemical elements contain ed, diamond versus graphite chemically same, but crystalline structure differs. Diamond hardest (scratch all other minerals) talc softest. Tendency to break in certain directions along bright plane surfaces. However, there exists three major rock groups or classes. Metamorphic igneous rocks: formed by the cooling and solidification of molten rock, classification based largely on mineral composition (chemistry) and texture (how slow/fast it cools, two types of igneous rocks. Surrounding rocks insulate the magma intrusion, slow cooling. Generally do not show individual mineral crystals, but can if the crystals are formed from shattered rock that was explosively ejected.
