Physical and Chemical Properties of Rock
Physical and Chemical Properties of Rock
Physical and Chemical Properties of Rock
1)
- A mineral can be in many different colors
- Minerals are the building blocks of ROCKS
Minerals
- homogenous
- naturally occurring
- solid, inorganic substances
- with definable chemical composition
- orderly arranged in a lattice (fixed pattern that repeats at regular interval/not random)
Rocks
- aggregates of minerals, many minerals, or mineral-like substances
Ex: Limestone is made from the mineral calcite
Granite is made from minerals such as quartz, feldspar or mica
> Hardness - the measure of mineral’s resistance to scratching (Moh’s Scale Test/ Moh’s
Hardness Scale)
> Specific Gravity - a measure of the density of a mineral, determines how heavy the mineral
is by its weight to water.
> Cleavage and Fracture - describe how minerals break into pieces (Fracture: breaks in a
direction without cleavage)
Cleavage in 1 Direction - Muscovite
Cleavage Fracture
*Additional Info
> Magnetism - indicates the ability of the mineral to attract or repel other minerals
> Tenacity - level of resistance or reaction of minerals to stress (crushing, bending, breaking,
tearing) ; brittle, malleable, elastic, etc.
> Odor - distinct smell of a mineral, usually released from a chemical reaction when subjected
to water, heat, air or friction (incense powder)
> Sulphide Class - metal cations bonded to sulfide S², the anion of sulfur; many have metallic
luster.
- Consist of metal cation bonded to SO²₄
> Halide Class - contains natural salt and includes fluorite, halide. Low hardness, transparent,
good cleavage, low specific gravities, poor conductors of electricity.
> Carbonate Class - mostly deposited in marine environments, from shells of dead planktons
or marine organisms, areas with high rates of evaporation. Molecules of O serves as anion. Ca
and Mg bond to this.
Rock Types:
Igneous Rock
- Latin word “ignis” (fire)
- molten materials - cooling and solidification of magma or lava
> Dikes
- Plutonic rocks that intruded into cracks and crevices of existing rocks but are
slanted
*Additional Info
> Igneous Rocks:
- Classification is based on the rock's texture and mineral constituents
Texture
- Size and arrangement of crystals
Types
Fine-grained – fast rate of cooling Porphyritic (two crystal sizes) – two rates of cooling
Coarse-grained – slow rate of cooling Glassy – very fast rate of cooling
Naming Igneous Rocks
> Basaltic Rocks
- Contain substantial dark silicate minerals and calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar
- Also referred to as mafic: magnesium and ferrum (iron)
- Common rock is basalt
Sedimentary Rocks
- “sediments” (remaining particle)
- form from sediment (weathered products)
- about 78% of current land surface
- but only constitutes 8% of the entire volume of Earth’s crust
* Strata - deposited in layers * Bedding – entire layers displayed by a rock
outcrop
Economic Importance (Natural Resource)
- Coal - Sources of Iron and Aluminum
- Petroleum and Natural Gas - Resources for construction materials
and chemical products
Used to Reconstruct Much of Earth's History
- Clues to past environments - Rocks often contain fossils
- Provide information about sediment transport
Ex:
> Conglomerate
- Made up of rounded pebbles which are cemented together
> Breccia
- Made of angular pebbles which are cemented together
> Sandstone
- Sand cemented together forming a solid stone
> Siltstone
- Silt is a solid, dust-like sediment that water, wind and ice transport and deposit.
(smaller than sand and larger than clay)
- Silt cemented together to form a solid stone
> Shale
- Similar to siltstone but is composed of even finer grains of silt
*Additional Info
> Sedimentary Rocks
Classifying Sedimentary Rocks
- Two groups based on the source of the material
Chemical Rocks
- Derived from material that was once in solution and precipitates to form sediment
- Directly precipitated as the result of physical processes,
- Through life processes (biochemical origin)
*Common Sedimentary Rocks
> Limestone – the most abundant chemical rock
- Microcrystalline quartz (precipitated quartz) known as chert, flint, jasper, or agate
- Evaporites such as rock salt or gypsum
> Coal
Metamorphic Rock
- Metamorphic- (Greek)“meta”- (after); “morph” (form/shape)
- exposure to high temperature, pressure or both that undergo chemical and
physical changes
- type of rock that arose from either igneous or sedimentary
- Forms only 12% of Earth’s land surface but together with igneous rocks
compose 92% of Earth's crust.
- Range of temperature and pressure in which a protolith (parent rock or original
rock) transforms into metamorphic: 200 to 300 degree Celsius 300 to 600 Mpa
(megapascals)
Ex:
> Gneiss
- Formed by highgrade metamorphosis.
- foliations display alternating dark and light colored bands, called gneiss banding
> Slate
- Fine-grained foliated metamorphic rocks derived from shale sedimentary rocks
> Marble
- Non-foliated metamorphic rocks formed from limestone
> Schist
- Medium-grade metamorphic rocks with medium to large, flat, sheet-like grains
> Quartzite
- Hard non-foliated metamorphic rock formed from quartz sandstone (a
sedimentary rock)
*Additional Info
> Metamorphic Rocks
- Metamorphism occurs via recrystallization and mechanical deformation.
Degrees of Metamorphism
Exhibited by rock texture and mineralogy
Low-grade (e.g., shale becomes slate)
High-grade (obliteration of original features)
Texture
> Foliated texture
- Minerals are in a parallel alignment
- Minerals are perpendicular to the compressional force
*Slate
- Fine grained; splits easily
*Schist
- strongly foliated; “platy”; types based on composition (e.g. mica, schist)
*Gneiss
- strong segregation of silicate materials; banded texture
> Nonfoliated texture
- Contain equidimensional crystals
- Resembles a coarse-grained igneous rock
*Marble
- parent rock is limestone; large, interlocking calcite crystals
- used as a building stone; variety of colors
*Quartzite
- parent rock is quartz sandstone; quartz grains are fused
Rock Cycle
- shows continuous succession of forming, break down and reform of rocks
- Molten rock rises from the depths of Earth, cools, solidifies, and eventually returns to
become magma again.