Review for Exam Flashcards
What term describes the shape of a mineral in fine needle-like crystals?
Acicular.
What type of fracture does quartz exhibit?
Conchoidal
What term describes the tendency of certain minerals to split easily in certain regular directions?
Cleavage
Which scale is used to measure the hardness of minerals?
Mohs’ Scale of Hardness
What term describes minerals that can be beaten into new shapes?
Malleable
How is the age of rocks estimated based on the severity of radioactive decay experienced by radioactive material present in the rocks?
Radiometric dating
What property of minerals refers to their appearance in powdered form?
Streak
What term describes minerals found in detached masses of spherical, ellipsoidal, or irregular shape?
Concretionary or nodular
What is the term used to describe the property of minerals that allows them to return to their original shape after bending?
Elastic
Which mineral property is described as the nature of a broken surface?
Fracture
What apparatus can be used to measure the specific gravity of minerals or rocks that are not too small?
Walker Balance
What term describes minerals that exhibit a kidney-shaped form?
Reniform
Which mineral property is measured relative to a standard scale of ten minerals?
Hardness
What term describes minerals consisting of spheroidal aggregations resembling a bunch of grapes?
Botryoidal
What term describes minerals that exhibit a moss-like or tree-like form, generally produced by the deposition of a mineral in thin veneers on joint planes or in crevices?
Dendritic
What term describes minerals with no lustre?
Dull
What property of minerals refers to their weight relative to the weight of an equal volume of water?
Specific gravity
What term describes minerals consisting of closely packed small crystals growing into a cavity?
Drusy
What term describes minerals that show broad flat surfaces
Tabular
Which mineral property refers to the appearance of a mineral surface in reflected light?
Lustre
What term describes minerals that are capable of being cut with a knife?
Sectile
What property of minerals is useful in distinguishing various oxides of iron?
Streak
What term describes the response of a mineral to a hammer blow, cutting with a knife, and bending?
Tenacity
What defines the geometric shape of minerals, which are bounded by faces arranged in a regular manner?
Crystals
What are the angles between adjacent crystal faces for similar crystals of any particular mineral?
Constant
How many crystallographic axes intersect in a common origin within a crystal, defining the crystal faces?
Three or four
What divides a crystal into exactly similar halves, each being the mirror image of the other?
Plane of symmetry
How many classes of symmetry are defined by planes, axes, and centers of symmetry?
32
What is the smallest complete unit of pattern in the atomic structure of a crystal?
Unit cell
In which system are many crystals bounded by faces that are all similar?
Cubic System
What is a face in the Cubic System that cuts all three or more forms?
Pyramid
What are faces called in the Orthorhombic, Monoclinic, and Triclinic Systems that cut two lateral axes and are parallel to the vertical axis?
Prisms
What is a face that cuts any one axis and is parallel to the other two called?
Pinacoid
What term describes the phenomenon where two closely adjacent crystals have grown together with a crystallographic plane or direction common to both, but one reversed relative to the other?
Twin crystals
What is the ratio called when the angle of incidence is measured for air and is divided by the angle of refraction?
Refractive index (n)
What is the term for a mineral that divides a ray of light into two, resulting in two values of refractive index?
Doubly refractive or birefringent
What is the direction along which light entering a crystal is not split into two rays but passes through the crystal undivided called?
Optic axis
What is the property of minerals that have the same refractive index for light entering in any direction called?
Isotropic or singly refracting
What type of crystals have two optic axes and are therefore called biaxial?
Orthorhombic, Monoclinic, and Triclinic crystals
What are the two polaroids in a petrological microscope called?
Polarizer and analyser
What happens to the appearance of a slice of quartz cut perpendicular to the c-axis when viewed between crossed polars?
It appears completely black due to isotropy.
What is the difference in refractive index between the maximum and minimum values for a crystal called?
Birefringence
What phenomenon causes a slice of quartz cut obliquely to the c-axis to show a white or grey polarization color?
Birefringence
What is the term for a face in the orthorhombic crystal system that cuts all three or more forms?
Prism (pr)
What is the name for a face in the orthorhombic crystal system that cuts one lateral axis and is parallel to the other two?
Pinacoid (d)
What term describes a face in the orthorhombic crystal system that cuts one lateral and the vertical axis, and is parallel to the other lateral axis?
Dome
What phenomenon occurs when a ray of light traveling through one medium is bent or refracted upon entering another medium of different density?
Refraction
What is the constant ratio of sin i to sin r called when a ray of light passes from one medium to another?
Refractive index (n)
What is the refractive index for Canada balsam, and similar cements in which rock slices are mounted?
1.54
What term describes the property of a mineral that enables it to divide a ray of light into two?
Doubly refractive or birefringent
What is the direction in a calcite crystal along which light entering it is not split into two rays?
Optic axis
What type of minerals have only one value of refractive index for light vibrations traversing it?
Isotropic or singly refracting minerals
What are the two polaroids in a petrological microscope called, and how are they positioned?
Polarizer (below the stage) and analyser (above the stage), positioned at right angles to each other.
What is the term for the phenomenon where a birefringent mineral appears completely dark at intervals of 90° during rotation between crossed polars?
Extinction
How many times does extinction occur during each complete rotation of a birefringent mineral slice between crossed polars?
Four times
What is the term for the property of a mineral where extinction occurs when some crystallographic direction, such as its length or prominent cleavage, is brought parallel to a cross-wire?
Straight extinction
What is the term for the property of a mineral where extinction occurs when its length makes an angle with the cross-wire?
Oblique extinction
What term describes the phenomenon where some minerals exhibit a change of color when rotated above the lower polarizer on the stage of a microscope?
Pleochroism
What are minerals called that appear dark brown or black when viewed through a microscope due to their inability to transmit light?
Opaque minerals
How are opaque minerals illuminated when studied with a microscope?
They must be illuminated from above.
In which mineral group are the SiO4 tetrahedra arranged in pairs with aluminum atoms between them, separated by layers of potassium atoms?
Micas and other flaky minerals
What type of atomic structure is formed when each SiO4 tetrahedron is linked by all four oxygens, sharing them with adjacent groups?
Three-dimensional Frameworks
What method can be used to investigate the atomic structure of crystals?
X-ray analysis
Composition: (MgFe)2SiO4
Crystal System: Orthorhombic
Color: Pale olive-green or yellow
Lustre: Vitreous
Fracture: Conchoidal
Hardness (H): 6
Specific Gravity (G): 3.2 to 3.6
Pleochroism: Strong
Extinction: Straight
Olivine
Composition: Enstatite - MgSiO3; Hypersthene - (MgFe)SiO3
Color: Dark brown or green (Hypersthene nearly black)
Lustre: Vitreous to metallic
Cleavage: Two good directions parallel to prism faces
Hardness (H): 5 to 6
Specific Gravity (G): 3.2 to 3.5
Pleochroism: Enstatite weak, Hypersthene strong
Extinction: Straight
Enstatite and Hypersthene (Orthorhombic Pyroxenes)
Composition: (CaMgFeAl)(SiAl)2O6
Color: Brown to black
Lustre: Vitreous to resinous
Twinning: Shows a re-entrant angle
Hardness (H): 5 to 6
Specific Gravity (G): 3.3 to 3.5
Pleochroism: Generally absent or weak
Extinction: Oblique
Augite (Monoclinic Pyroxene)
Composition: KAl2(Si3Al)O10(OH)2
Color: White (unless impurities present)
Lustre: Pearly
Cleavage: Perfect parallel to the basal plane
Hardness (H): 2 to 2.3
Specific Gravity (G): About 2.9
Pleochroism: Strong
Extinction: Straight
Muscovite (Mica)
Composition: (CaMgFeNaAl)2-3(AlSi)5-6O22(OH)2
Color: Dark brown or greenish black
Lustre: Vitreous
Cleavage: Two directions intersecting at 124°
Hardness (H): 5 to 6
Specific Gravity (G): 3 to 3.4
Pleochroism: Strong in shades of green, yellow, and brown
Extinction: Oblique
Hornblende (Amphibole)
Composition: K(MgFe)3AlSi3O10(OH)2
Color: Brown to nearly black
Lustre: Sub-metallic or pearly
Cleavage: Perfect parallel to the basal plane
Hardness (H): 2.5 to 3
Specific Gravity (G): 2.8 to 3.1
Pleochroism: Strong, shades of brown and yellow
Extinction: Parallel to the cleavage
Biotite (Mica)
Composition: KAlSi3O8
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Color: White or pink
Lustre: Vitreous
Cleavage: Two good cleavages intersecting at 90°
Special Features: Frequently twinned (Carlsbad, Manebach, Baveno)
Hardness (H): 6
Specific Gravity (G): 2.56
Mean Refractive Index (R.I.): 1.52
Birefringence (Biref): Weak
Extinction: Oblique
Orthoclase (Potassium Feldspar)
Composition: KAlSi3O8
Crystal System: Triclinic
Color: White, pink, or green
Lustre: Vitreous
Special Features: Similar to orthoclase
Hardness (H): Not specified
Specific Gravity (G): Not specified
Microcline (Potassium Feldspar)
Composition: KAlSi3O8
Crystal System: Triclinic
Color: Not specified
Lustre: Not specified
Cleavage: Not specified
Hardness (H): Not specified
Specific Gravity (G): Not specified
Anorthoclase (Potassium Feldspar)
Composition: Albite (NaAlSi3O8); Anorthite (CaAl2Si2O8)
Crystal System: Triclinic
Color: White or colorless (albite) to grey (anorthite)
Lustre: Vitreous
Cleavage: Not specified
Hardness (H): 6 to 6+
Specific Gravity (G): 2.60
Mean Refractive Index (R.I.): 1.55
Birefringence (Biref): Weak
Extinction: Oblique
Plagioclases