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Intro to Earth materials > All notes semester 1 > Flashcards

All notes semester 1 Flashcards

1
Q

What is the softest mineral?

A

Talc

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2
Q

What is the hardest mineral?

A

Diamond

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3
Q

What is the scale of hardness?

A

Mohs scale of hardness

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4
Q

What mineral has a hardness of 2?

A

Gypsum

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5
Q

What mineral has a hardness of 3?

A

Calcite

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6
Q

What mineral has a hardness of 4?

A

Fluorite

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7
Q

What mineral has a hardness of 5?

A

Hematite

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8
Q

What mineral has a hardness of 6?

A

Orthoclase

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9
Q

What mineral has a hardness of 7?

A

Quartz

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10
Q

What mineral has a hardness of 8?

A

Topaz

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11
Q

What is quartz chemical formula?

A

SiO2

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12
Q

What mineral will react with a compass?

A

Magnetite

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13
Q

Galena

A 
Colour - Lead grey*
Lustre - Metallic 
Streak - Black*
Hardness - 2.5
Density - High
Cleavage -Cubic/3 lines of cleavage at 90 degrees*
Comment - Looks like a pencil tip
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14
Q

Sphalerite

A 
Colour - Dark grey*
Lustre - Metallic
Streak - Brown*
Hardness - 4
Density - High
Cleavage - Fractured/6 cleavage planes
Comment - Sparkles
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15
Q

Pyrite

A 
Colour - Gold*
Lustre - Metallic
Streak - Grey*
Hardness - 6.5
Density - Medium
Cleavage - 2 at 90 degrees*
Comment - Gold squares in black sometimes.
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16
Q

Chalcopyrite

A 
Colour - Yellow/Gold*
Lustre - Metallic
Streak - Black*
Hardness - 4
Density - Medium
Cleavage - 2 poor
Comment - Black in many examples.
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17
Q

Marcasite

A 
Colour - Orange/grey*
Lustre -Earthy
Streak - Orange*
Hardness - 6.5
Density - Medium 
Cleavage - One
Comment - Tubes or half spheres*
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18
Q

Arsenopyrite

A 
Colour - Grey*
Lustre - Metallic 
Streak - Black*
Hardness - 6
Density - High
Cleavage - One
Comment -White glassy bits in a metallic grey - smells like garlic when broken.*
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19
Q

Stibnite

A 
Colour - Silver*
Lustre - Metallic
Streak - Black
Hardness - 2
Density - Low 
Cleavage - Grooves/striations*
Comment - Elongated crystals*
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20
Q

Quartz

A 
Colour - White
Lustre - Glassy*
Streak - None
Hardness - 7*
Density - Medium
Cleavage - Concoidal fracture*
Comment - Clear* and often grey or white
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21
Q

Amethyst

A 
Colour - Purple*
Lustre - Vitreous*
Streak - None
Hardness - 7*
Density - Low 
Cleavage - Sometime concoidal
Comment - Purple version of quartz
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22
Q

Hematite

A 
Colour - Dark grey*
Lustre - Metallic
Streak - Red*
Hardness - 5
Density - High
Cleavage - None
Comment - Can be grey or red*
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23
Q

Magnetite

A 
Colour - Dark grey
Lustre - Metallic*
Streak - Grey
Hardness - 6
Density - High*
Cleavage - None
Comment - Magnetic and will make compass move*
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24
Q

Chromite

A 
Colour - Grey*
Lustre - Metallic/sparkly* 
Streak - None*
Hardness - 5.5
Density - Medium
Cleavage - None
Comment - Plain looking with no crystals.*
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25
Q

Cassiterite

A 
Colour - Yellow/White/Grey
Lustre - Metallic/glossy*
Streak - None
Hardness - 6.5
Density - Low
Cleavage - Poor
Comment - Obvious crystals in some specimens*
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26
Q

Halite

A 
Colour - Clear*
Lustre - Vitreous* 
Streak - None
Hardness - 2.5
Density - Low
Cleavage - Cubic*
Comment - Salty*
27
Q

Fluorite

A 
Colour - Brown/green*
Lustre - Vitreous*
Streak - None
Hardness - 4
Density - Medium
Cleavage - 4 cubes common*
Comment - Like a dirty quartz*
28
Q

Calcite

A 
Colour - Orange/Cream/Clear*
Lustre - Vitreous (sometimes hard to see)*
Streak - None 
Hardness - 3
Density - Low*
Cleavage - 3
Comment - None
29
Q

Malachite

A 
Colour - Green/Bluey*
Lustre - Earthy*
Streak - Green*
Hardness - 4
Density - Medium
Cleavage - 2
Comment - None
30
Q

Barite

A 
Colour - Colourless/brown/cream*
Lustre - Vitreous (not always)
Streak - None*
Hardness - 3
Density - Medium* 
Cleavage - 2 at 90 degrees
Comment - None
31
Q

Gypsum

A 
Colour - Clear/creamy*
Lustre - Pearly and Vitreous/Metallic 
Streak - None 
Hardness - 2.5*
Density - Low*
Cleavage - 3 or fiberous/striations* 
Comment - Less dense than Barite
32
Q

Tourmaline

A 
Colour - Black*
Lustre - Pearly*
Streak - None
Hardness - 7.5*
Density - Medium 
Cleavage - Striated*/Fibrous/none
Comment - None
33
Q

Olivine

A 
Colour - Green*
Lustre - Metallic/Glittery*
Streak - None*
Hardness - 6.5*
Density - Medium
Cleavage - None
Comment -None
34
Q

Hornblende

A 
Colour - Black*
Lustre - Pearly*
Streak - None
Hardness - 6
Density - Low
Cleavage - 2 (squared edges)*
Comment - None
35
Q

Muscovite

A 
Colour - Clear*
Lustre - Vitreous
Streak - None
Hardness - 2 or less*
Density - Low
Cleavage - 1 (Sheets)*
Comment - Flakey*
36
Q

Orthoclase

A 
Colour - Cream/yellow*
Lustre - Pearly 
Streak - Differs 
Hardness - 6*
Density - Low
Cleavage - 2 at 90 degrees*
Comment - None
37
Q

Define Vitreous.

A

Glass like in appearance or properties.

38
Q

What does PPL mean?

A

Plain polarised light.

39
Q

What does XPL mean?

A

Cross polarised light.

40
Q

What is a microscope eyepiece called?

41
Q

How would you draw a microscopes field of view?

A

A circle with two halves for PPL on the left and XPL on the right. Annotate it describing colours, twinning, relief and names of minerals.

42
Q

What kind of microscope do we use to look at thin-sections?

A

Petrological microscope.

43
Q

What does olivine look like in thin section?

A

Pink/Blue very bright colours. Edges not smooth. High relief.

44
Q

What are completely black spots in thin section?

A

Opaques. Can’t be identified.

45
Q

What does Pyroxene look like in thin section?

46
Q

What should be identified in thin section?

A

Crystal size, mineralogy, mode, texture and draw a diagram. Finally name and classification.

47
Q

Describe porphyritic granite.

A

-Porphyritic rock.
-Large crystals embedded in a finer groundmass
-Phenocrysts of alkali feldspar (pink)
-Contains plagioclase feldspar, quartz, amphibole and
sometimes biotie or muscovite mica.
-Inequigranular texture
-Subhedral crystals

48
Q

What are euhedral crystals?

A

Well formed, sharp crystal faces.

49
Q

What are anhedral crystals?

A

No well formed crystal faces.

50
Q

Describe olivine gabbro.

A

-Contains Plagioclase feldspar, olivine, pyroxene and
small amounts of amphibole and biotite mica.
-Inequigranular texture
-Subhedral crystals

51
Q

Describe hornblende quartz diorite.

A
  • Contains Hornblende, plagioclase feldspar, quartz and alkali feldspar.
  • Inequigranular texture
  • Euhedral crystals
  • Some elongated crystals
52
Q

Describe fine grained dolerite.

A
  • Contains plagioclase feldspar, pyroxene, hornblend, alkali feldspar and quartz.
  • Equigranular texture
  • Rapid cooling
53
Q

What does lustre mean?

A

The way light is reflected from mineral surfaces.

54
Q

What is the systematic way of recording mineral specimens?

A

Colour, streak, lustre, density, cleavage, fracture, hardness and others e.g taste.

55
Q

How would you identify Alkali Feldspar?

A 
Also known a K/potassium feldspar.
Pink*/grey/white.
Isolated grains.
Two cleavage planes at 90 = sharp edges.
Pearly.
56
Q

How would you identify Plagioclase Feldspar?

A

White/grey/green.
Isolated grains.
Two cleavage planes at 90 = sharp edges.
Striations.

57
Q

How would you identify Quartz? In hand specimen.

A

Usually colourless, some coloured hues, grey.
Can be very fine or large crystals.
Glassy.

58
Q

How would you identify Amphibole/Hornblende?

A

Long crystals.

Fibrous.

59
Q

How would you identify Biotite Mica?

A

Black/dark brown.
Soft - easy to scratch.
Shiny.

60
Q

How would you identify Muscovite Mica?

A

Colourless, grey/green tint.
Soft - easy to scratch.
Disk shaped crystals from some angles.

61
Q

How would you identify Olivine? In hand specimen.

A

Olive/grey/brown/green.

Glassy.

62
Q

How would you identify Pyroxene?

A

Granular.
Hard.
Dark coloured.

63
Q

How do you fully describe an igneous rock?

A

Colour (general and of individual crystals), crystal size, mineralogy, mode (% of each mineral) and texture (relationship between crystals).

64
Q

What are the different crystal sizes in a rock?

A

Fine-grained (<1mm), Medium-grained (1-5mm) and cours-grained (>5mm)

Intro to Earth materials (2 decks)

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