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DISP Earth Science > Minerals > Flashcards

Minerals Flashcards

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1
Q

About how many known minerals are there?

A

~3500

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2
Q

How many minerals are reasonably common?

A

~200

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3
Q

How many minerals account for most of the earth’s crust?

A

~20

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4
Q

What class of mineral makes up 94% of the crust?

A

silicate minerals

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5
Q

What are minerals in the crust limited by?

A

the elements available and silicate mineral structure

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6
Q

What 5 properties must a substance meet to be considered a mineral?

A

naturally-occurring, inorganic, crystalline solid, definite chemical composition, characteristic physical properties

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7
Q

What are a mineral’s physical properties determined by?

A

chemical composition and crystal structure

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8
Q

What are ionic bonds?

A

electromagnetic attraction

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9
Q

What mineral contains ionic bonds?

A

halite (table salt)

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10
Q

Why are ionic bonds brittle?

A

when cracked, negative and positive ions repel and push each other away

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11
Q

What type of bond involves metal ions “floating” in an electron sea?

A

metallic bonds

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12
Q

How do metallic bonds behave?

A

plastic

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13
Q

What are covalent bonds?

A

sharing of electrons

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14
Q

What is the composition of most silicate bonds?

A

50:50 covalent:ionic

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15
Q

What does the composition of silicate bonds indicate about their behaviour?

A

behave elastically but break in brittle manner

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16
Q

How do covalent bonds behave?

A

elastic and flexible

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17
Q

What is crystal structure?

A

arrangement of atoms in a regularly repeating, orderly pattern

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18
Q

What is a crystal?

A

homogeneous solid bounded by naturally-formed planar surfaces

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19
Q

What are planar surfaces?

A

external expression of internal ordering of atoms

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20
Q

What does the internal ordering of atoms in a crystal result in?

A

specific angular relationships

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21
Q

What bonds determine crystal structure?

A

strongest bonds

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22
Q

What bonds determine crystal strength?

A

weakest bonds

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23
Q

What are 5 ways in which minerals can form?

A

solidification of a melt, precipitation from solution, solid state diffusion, biomineralization, precipitation from gas

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24
Q

What is an anhedral?

A

mineral without well-formed crystal faces

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25
Q

How do anhedrals often form?

A

growth in a confined space

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26
Q

What is a euhedral crystal?

A

well-formed crystal faces (uninhibited growth)

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27
Q

What 8 elements make up 99% of the Earth’s crust (by weight)?

A

O, Si, Al, Fe, Mg, Ca, Na, K

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28
Q

Does carbon play an important role in the crust?

A

no

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29
Q

Why do so many minerals contain oxygen?

A

out of the 8 common minerals, only oxygen forms a negative ion, which is needed to make compounds electrostatically stable

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30
Q

What 2 other elements behave similarly to calcium?

A

sodium and potassium

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31
Q

What element behaves similarly to iron?

A

magnesium

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32
Q

What elements form a silicate ion?

A

silicon and oxygen (SiO4)

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33
Q

What are the 2 most abundant elements?

A

silicon and oxygen

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34
Q

How strong is the structure of one silicate?

A

strong bonds but electrically unstable

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35
Q

What shape do silicate ions form?

A

tetrahedral

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36
Q

Why is a silicate tetrahedra electrically unstable?

A

negative 4 charge

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37
Q

What are two ways in which silicates balance their strong negative charge?

A

bonding with positive ions or polymerizing by sharing electrons (between oxygens)

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38
Q

What mineral is an example of isolated silicate tetrahedra?

A

olivine

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39
Q

How do silicates form single chains?

A

share one oxygen atom

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40
Q

What silicate structure does pyroxene have?

A

single chains

41
Q

What silicate structures can be formed by sharing oxygens?

A

single chains, double chains, sheet silicates, and framework silicates

42
Q

What is an example of a mineral with double chain silicates?

A

amphibole

43
Q

What mineral contains silicate sheets?

A

mica

44
Q

What silicate structure do feldspar and quartz have?

A

frameworks

45
Q

How are framework silicates formed?

A

all 4 oxygens are shared (3-D structure)

46
Q

How many oxygen atoms are shared to make a silicate sheet?

A

three

47
Q

What cleavage do silicate sheets form in minerals?

A

strong cleavage in 1 direction

48
Q

What are the mechanical and chemical properties of quartz?

A

mechanically durable (strong 3-D covalent array) and chemically stable

49
Q

Why is quartz used for glass?

A

it’s inert and clear

50
Q

What is the most abundant “rock-forming” mineral group?

A

feldspar

51
Q

What are the two main types of feldspars?

A

orthoclase (K) and plagioclase (Na or Ca)

52
Q

How do feldspar’s chemical properties relate to those of quartz?

A

chemically inert but less so than quartz

53
Q

What minerals are part of the mineral assemblage in basalt?

A

olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase

54
Q

What colour is olivine?

A

olive green

55
Q

What two possible ions can bind to silicate to form olivine?

A

Mg or Fe

56
Q

What silicate chemistry is found in hornblende (amphibole-group mineral)?

A

double-chain

57
Q

What are the parts of the mineral assemblage in andesite?

A

K-feldspar, plagioclase, amphiboles, biotite

58
Q

What colour is hornblende?

A

very black

59
Q

What mineral is found in shells and limestone?

A

calcite

60
Q

What is the chemical formula for calcite?

A

CaCO3

61
Q

What kind of cleavage does calcite have?

A

rhombohedral (skewed boxes)

62
Q

What mineral exhibits double refraction?

A

calcite

63
Q

In what is calcite soluble?

A

dilute acid

64
Q

Why is calcite easy to precipitate out of solution?

A

it has a very narrow solubility

65
Q

What is the hardness of gypsum (qualitatively)

A

soft - can scratch with fingernail

66
Q

What is gypsum soluble in?

A

water

67
Q

What is the mineral with the formula CaSO3.2H2O?

A

gypsum

68
Q

What is the mineral table salt?

A

halite

69
Q

What shape of crystal does halite form?

A

cubic

70
Q

What mineral is an important source of acid drainage and how?

A

pyrite (oxidizes easily; forms sulfuric acid in solution)

71
Q

What mineral is known as “fool’s gold”?

A

pyrite

72
Q

What is pyrite’s chemical formula?

A

FeS2

73
Q

What mineral commonly “replaces” more soluble minearls?

A

pyrite

74
Q

What is the most abundant sulphide mineral?

A

pyrite

75
Q

What is an important part of most iron ore?

A

magnetite

76
Q

What mineral has the formula Fe3O4?

A

magnetite

77
Q

What colour/streak is hematite?

A

reddish orange

78
Q

What is the mineral and its formula that forms rust?

A

hematite; Fe2O3

79
Q

What minerals make up granite?

A

quartz, K-feldspar, plagioclase feldspar, mica (biotite and muscovite)

80
Q

What is the chemical formula for quartz?

A

SiO2

81
Q

What are some physical properties used to describe and identify minerals?

A

colour, lustre, streak, harness, habit, fracture, cleavage, density, taste, odor, magnetism, radioactivity…

82
Q

From what does colour result?

A

variable absorption of white light

83
Q

Why is colour not a reliable identifier for most mineral?

A

it’s variable due to impurities

84
Q

What is lustre?

A

appearance in reflected light - how light reflects off an object

85
Q

What are the two main categories of lustre?

A

metallic and non-metallic

86
Q

What is the lustre of silicates?

A

non-metallic

87
Q

What minerals have a metallic lustre?

A

metals and sulphides

88
Q

What is streak?

A

colour of powdered solid

89
Q

What physical property is more reliable than colour?

A

streak

90
Q

What types of minerals is streak most useful for?

A

sulphides and oxides (metallic minerals)

91
Q

What are the two terms to describe how a substance breaks?

A

cleavage and fracture

92
Q

What is the difference betwen cleavage and fracturing?

A

fracturing occurs on non-planar surfaces while cleavage breaks along parallel planes, resulting in repeating parallel surfaces

93
Q

What does Mohs’ scale of relative hardness measure and how?

A

measures mechanical strength by “scratchability”

94
Q

What are the 9 minerals used in Mohs’ scale?

A
  1. talc
  2. gypsum
  3. calcite
  4. fluorite
  5. apatite
  6. feldspar
  7. quartz
  8. topaz
  9. corundum
  10. diamond
95
Q

Is Mohs’ hardness scale linear?

A

no

96
Q

What measure of density is commonly used in geology?

A

specific gravity

97
Q

What is specific gravity?

A

density compared to water

98
Q

Why does gold panning work?

A

gold has a much higher specific gravity than other common minerals in the water

DISP Earth Science (7 decks)

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