🌍 Study Guide: Rocks, Minerals, and the
Rock Cycle
Part 1: Minerals
Before understanding rocks, you must understand their building blocks: Minerals.
1. What is a Mineral?
To be classified as a mineral, a substance must meet 5 criteria (remember the acronym SNIFC):
Solid: Must be solid at standard temperature (not liquid or gas).
Naturally Occurring: Formed by nature, not man-made (plastic is not a mineral).
Inorganic: Was never alive (coal is not a mineral because it comes from plants).
Fixed Chemical Composition: Has a specific chemical formula (e.g., Quartz is always
SiO₂).
Crystal Structure: Atoms are arranged in an orderly, repeating pattern.
2. How Do Minerals Form?
Minerals form through three primary processes:
1. Crystallization from Magma/Lava:
o As molten rock cools, atoms arrange themselves into crystals.
o Slow cooling (deep underground) Large crystals.
o Fast cooling (surface/volcano) Small crystals.
2. Precipitation from Solution:
o Water (often hot fluids or evaporating seawater) holds dissolved elements.
o When the water evaporates or cools, the "solids" fall out (precipitate) and
crystallize.
o Example: Halite (salt) forming when seawater evaporates.
3. Heat and Pressure (Metamorphism):
o Existing minerals are subjected to high heat/pressure without melting, causing
atoms to rearrange into new, stable minerals.
o Example: Carbon turning into Diamond deep underground.
Part 2: The Three Types of Rocks
Rocks are classified by how they form.
1. Igneous Rocks ("Born of Fire")
Formed from the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.
Formed Cooling
Type Texture (Crystal Size) Examples
Where? Rate
Inside the Coarse-grained (Large crystals Granite,
Intrusive(Plutonic) Slow
Earth (Magma) visible to the eye) Diorite
Exits the Earth Fine-grained (Microscopic Basalt, Pumice,
Extrusive(Volcanic) Fast
(Lava) crystals) or Glassy Obsidian
Export to Sheets
Key Concept: Pumice is an extrusive rock with "vesicular" texture (air holes) because gas
bubbles were trapped as it cooled instantly.
2. Sedimentary Rocks ("Born of Particles")
Formed from the accumulation of sediments (sand, mud, pebbles) or organic material.
The Formation Process (Lithification):
1. Weathering: Rain, wind, and ice break rock into smaller pieces (sediments).
2. Erosion: Movement of sediment by water, wind, or glaciers.
3. Deposition: Sediment settles in layers (usually in water).
4. Compaction: Weight of top layers squeezes bottom layers.
5. Cementation: Minerals dissolved in water act like "glue" to bind sediments
together.
Classes of Sedimentary Rock:
o Clastic: Made of rock fragments (e.g., Sandstone, Shale, Conglomerate).
o Chemical: Formed when minerals precipitate from water (e.g., Limestone, Rock
Salt).
o Organic (Bioclastic): Made of biological remains (e.g., Coal from
plants, Coquina from shells).
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3. Metamorphic Rocks ("Changed Form")
Formed when existing rocks (parent rocks) are changed by intense heat and pressure without
melting.
Types of Metamorphism:
o Regional: Large areas of rock changed by mountain building (pressure
dominant).
o Contact: Magma touches nearby rock, "baking" it (heat dominant).
Textures:
o Foliated: Minerals align in bands or layers due to pressure.
(e.g., Granite Gneiss; Shale Slate).
o Non-Foliated: No layers; blocky crystals.
(e.g., Limestone Marble; Sandstone Quartzite).
Part 3: The Rock Cycle
The rock cycle creates a continuous loop where any rock type can turn into any other rock type.
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How Minerals Play a Role:
Minerals are the "ingredients" that get recycled.
1. Igneous to Sedimentary: A granite rock (Igneous) is made of quartz and feldspar
minerals. Weathering breaks these minerals apart into sand grains.
2. Sedimentary to Metamorphic: That sand collects and cements into Sandstone. If buried
deep, heat fuses the quartz minerals together to form Quartzite.
3. Metamorphic to Magma: If the Quartzite is pushed deeper into the mantle, the minerals
melt, breaking their atomic bonds to become magma again.
Shortcuts in the Cycle:
Sedimentary Sedimentary: A rock can erode and reform into a new sedimentary rock.
Metamorphic Metamorphic: Slate can undergo more pressure to become Phyllite or
Schist.
Igneous Metamorphic: Granite can be buried and pressurized into Gneiss.
Quick Review Questions
1. If a rock has large, visible crystals, did it cool slowly or quickly?
2. What implies a rock is "foliated"?
3. Which rock type is the only one likely to contain fossils? (Hint: Heat creates the others).
4. What is the difference between magma and lava?
