Minerals and Rocks

Question 1

the fundamental components of rocks

Answer 1

Minerals

Question 2

the most abundant components of rocks on the Earth’s surface

Answer 2

Silicate minerals

Question 3

fundamental
chemical building block of silicate minerals

Answer 3

Silicon tetroxide, SiO4

Question 4

Minerals are classified according to their

Answer 4

chemical composition

Question 5

are the essential building blocks of the geosphere

Answer 5

Minerals and rocks

Question 6

is usually called silica, is one of the most common
minerals in the Earth’s crust.

Answer 6

Quartz

Question 7

is a sodium- or calcium-rich feldspar.

Answer 7

Plagioclase feldspar

Question 8

are rich in alkali
metal ions.

Answer 8

Alkali feldspar

Question 9

usually occur as stubby prisms.

Answer 9

Alkali feldspar crystals

Question 10

form
flat, book-like crystals that split into individual sheets, separating into smooth
flakes along the cleavage planes.

Answer 10

Micas

Question 11

form prismatic or needle-like crystals.

Answer 11

Amphiboles

Question 12

form short or columnar prismatic crystals.

Answer 12

Pyroxene

Question 13

is a green, glassy mineral.

Answer 13

Olivine

Question 14

is made up of calcium carbonate

Answer 14

Calcite

Question 15

naturally occurring aggregates of minerals, rock fragments or
organic matter.

Answer 15

Rocks

Question 16

two important
characteristics that may help to confirm the origin of a rock.

Answer 16

Texture and mineral composition

Question 17

refers to the sizes and shapes of the component minerals or grains, and
to their collective arrangement in a rock.

Answer 17

Texture

Question 18

refers to the crystals, mineral grains, fragments of other rocks,
and/or fossils, that make up a rock.

Answer 18

Composition

Question 19

form when hot, molten rock (magma) cools and solidifies.

Answer 19

Igneous Rocks

Question 20

are formed when rising magma is trapped
deep within the Earth, where it cools very slowly over many thousands or
millions of years until it finally solidifies.

Answer 20

Intrusive Igneous Rocks

Question 21

are produced when magma is erupted at,
or very near, the Earth’s surface.

Answer 21

Extrusive Igneous Rocks

Question 22

are formed from the eroded fragments of pre-existing
rocks, or from the skeletal fragments of once-living plants or organisms.

Answer 22

Sedimentary Rocks

Question 23

are made up of fragments (clasts) of pre-existing
rocks.

Answer 23

Clastic sedimentary rocks

Question 24

form when large quantities of living plants or
organisms die and accumulate.

Answer 24

Biological sedimentary rocks

Question 25

are formed by chemical precipitation from
solutions.

Answer 25

Chemical sedimentary rocks

Question 26

are formed when a pre-existing rock is subject to high temperature, high pressure, hot and mineral-rich fluid, or a combination of
these conditions.

Answer 26

Metamorphic rocks

Question 27

exhibit a platy or sheet-like structure.

Answer 27

Foliated metamorphic rocks

Question 28

display a massive structure.

Answer 28

Non-foliated metamorphic rocks

Question 29

is composed of crystalline calcite minerals

Answer 29

Marble

Question 30

is a conceptual model that explains how
geological processes acting on any one of the three main rock types

Answer 30

Rock Cycle