Planet Earth 1-3 Flashcards
What is a rock made of?
One or more minerals
What is a mineral made of?
One element, making a pure substance.
2 or more elements making a compound.
What is the mohs hardness scale?
Scale of minerals with a hardness value from 1-10.
What is the softest mineral on the mohs hardness scale?
Talc
What is the hardest mineral on the mohs hardness scale?
Diamond
How would you use the mohs hardness scale to test an unknown substance?
You would scratch it with one of the items on the scale
What are crystals?
Building blocks of minerals.
Occur naturally.
Have straight edges, flat sides, and regular angles.
Most grow in 6 shapes.
What is Lustre?
How shiny an object is.
(How much light reflects of it’s surface)
What is the difference between metallic and non metallic Lustre?
Metallic Lustre shines like a metal surface, while nob metallic Lustre has a duller shine.
What is streak?
The colored powder left when rubbing a mineral on a surface
What can you use to test streak?
An unglazed porcelain tile
What number on the mohs hardness scale wouldn’t leave a streak?
7+ because they are harder than the tile, and need to be crushed into a powder
What is the difference between cleavage and fracture?
Cleavage is breaking along smooth, flat surfaces
Fracture is breaking with rough or jagged edges
What is the difference between magma and lava?
Magma is melted rock ound beneath the Earth’s crust
Lava is when magma breaks through the Earth’s surface
What is intrusive rock?
When magma cools and hardens below Earth’s surface
What is extrusive rock?
When lava cools and hardens above Earth’s surface
What are sedimentary rocks made of?
Sediments
What is stratification?
Arrangement in visible layers
What is compaction?
Each layer being squeezed together by the wight of the layers above
What is cementation?
Minerals dissolve in water forming natural cement to stick large pieces together
What are the 3 types of sedimentary rock?
Shale, sandstone, and conglomerate.
What is shale formed from?
Formed from grains of clay or mud
What is sandstone?
Harder, rougher rock formed from larger granules of sand
What is conglomerate made of?
Rounded pebbles and small stone cemented together
What does metamorphic rock mean?
Changed rock
What is parent rock?
Another type of rock that, through extremely high pressure and heat below the Earth’s surface, will change
What paths of the rock cycles could igneous rock take?
It could crystallize into metamorphic rock.
It could weather/erode into sediments.
What paths of the rock cycle could metamorphic rock take?
It could melt into magma.
It could weather/erode into sediments
What paths of the rock cycle could sedimentary rock take?
It could undergo heat and pressure, turning into metamorphic rock.
It could weather/erode into sediments.
What is compost?
Decaying matter
What is humus?
Dark colored portion of soil
Where is generally fertile soil found?
Near rivers
What is a soil profile?
How the layers of soil are divided
What is erosion?
The movement of rock and mineral grains from one place to another
What is mechanical weatheri ng?
The physical break up or disintegration of rocks
What is chemical weathering?
Breaks down minerals through chemical reactions
What is biological weathering?
The physical or chemical break down of rock cause by living organisms
What are the 4 agents of erosion?
Glaciers, gravity, wind, water
What are moraines?
Pile up of sediments on the edge of glacial path
What are erratics?
Large rocks left behind
