Module 3.

Minerals & the Rock Cycle

What's This Module About?
In this module, you'll learn about rocks and minerals. The module begins with a brief
introduction to chemical bonding, then covers the definition of mineral, how minerals form,
and common physical properties used to identify minerals. The main chemical classifications
of minerals are discussed, and then the most important chemical group of minerals for
forming the rocks of Earth’s crust—the silicate minerals—are examined in detail. The
module finishes with an introduction to rocks, and to the cycle of processes that form and
transform rocks, the rock cycle.

Master List of Readings & Activities (In Order)

 Read Chapter 5, Minerals, to the end of section 5.2.
 Watch the videos about how different types of chemical bonds work (Video Interlude
1).
 Read 5.3. Minerals Groups and 5.4. Silicate Minerals.
 Play with the 3D models in Interlude 2.
 Read 5.5. How Minerals Form.
 Watch the video DIY Grow Large Crystals for Room Decor (Video Interlude 3). This
video illustrates crystal growth through precipitation.
 OPTIONAL (no marks involved): Grow your own crystal.
 Read 5.6 Mineral Properties.
 Read Chapter 6, The Rock Cycle.

 Watch the video The Rock Cycle in the Show Me Earth Science book (Interlude 4),
and try the self-test questions (scroll down the page to find them).

 Go relax with a pleasant snoop around your favourite rock-finding location.

Learning Objectives
1. Explain the definition of the term mineral.
2. Describe the types of chemical bonds that hold minerals together.

he main types of bonding in minerals are ionic bonding (electrons transferred) and covalent
bonding (electrons shared). Some minerals have metallic bonding or weak Van der Waals
forces. Minerals form in three-dimensional lattices. The configuration of the lattices and the
type of bonding within help determine mineral properties.

3. Explain how minerals form.

1
 Most minerals are formed through the cooling and freezing of melted rock (magma).
The magma will rise through the crust and cool to produce minerals. They can also
form in other ways:
-Precipitation from a solution
-Precipitation from gas (volcanic gas)
-Metamorphism: solid materials react with each other under high pressure and team to
form new minerals
-weathering: minerals unstable at earths surface are chemically altered by surface
processes
-Organic formation: organisms build shells, teeth and bones

Criteria needed for minerals to grow:

-Elements needed to make mineral crystals must be present in sufficient abundance
and appropriate portions
-The physical and chemical conditions (temp, pressure, pH, water) must be favourable
-There must be sufficient time for the atoms to become arranged into lattice

4. Summarize the physical properties commonly used to identify minerals.

-Outer Colour -Streak (inner colour) -Hardness -Fracture
-Lustre (what light does to the mineral) -Crystal habit -Cleavage -Density
-Magnetises - Smell - taste -texture
-Calcite reacts with acid to give off bubbles of carbon dioxide

5. List the main chemical categories of minerals, and key features of those categories.

6. Explain the relationship between the arrangement of silicate tetrahedra within silicate
minerals, and the properties of those minerals.

7. Explain the significance of the rock cycle.

It was driven by two forces:
-Earth internal head which causes materials to move
around in the core and mantle, driving tectonics
-the movement of water, ice, and air at the surface
(hydrological cycle)
** it is not like the life cycle; it is more of a choose
your own adventure style

Key Terms & Concepts

2
 1. Mineral – a naturally occurring solid made of specific
elements and arranged in a particular repeating three-
dimensional structure

i. ** solids made from humans

(anthropogenic materials) do not count as
minerals

2. Crystal – the atoms within a mineral that are arranged in a

specific repeating three-dimensional structure or lattice

i. ** mineraloids -substances that do not have

crystalline structure

3. Parts of an atom
a. Proton – have a positive charge

i. Form the nucleus

Have the
same mass ii. Repel each other

b. Neutron – have no charge

i. Isotopes – elements with different number of neutrons (denoted by

putting the mass number in front of symbol 1H (1 proton), 2H (1 proton
+ 1 neutron))

c. Electron – have a negative charge  mass is 10,000 times smaller

4. Types of ions

a. Cation – loses an electron to become positive

b. Anion – gains an electron to become positive

5. Types of chemical bonds

a. Ionic – when negatively and positively charges attract and ions stick together

b. Covalent – when bonds share electrons to complete their outer shells

c. Van der Waals -

d. Metallic – occurs in metallic elements because they have outer electrons that
are loosely held. Is what allows copper to be formed into a wire and not break

6. Melting temperature – the temperature at which will start to affect a mineral

3
7. Precipitation- a process of mineral formation where chemical reactions produce
solids from liquids or gases
8. Mineral colour – can help us distinguish between types of minerals. Ex// Sulphur is
always bright yellow, by Hematite doesn’t have one certain colour.

9. Streak – The colour of a mineral when you grind it and look at the powder

10. Lustre – the way light reflects off the surface of a mineral and the degree to which it
penetrates into the interior

a. Metallic – light will not pass through

b. Non-metallic – light is able to pass through, even in small amounts

c. Glassy – a non-metallic mineral has a shiny reflective

surface

d. Earthy – mineral surface is dull and non-reflective

11. Mohs hardness scale – the ability for a mineral to be scratched

by another

12. Crystal habit – shapes determined by their atomic structure.

Ex// Quartz will form 6 sided prisms with pointed ends. Pyrite can form cubic crystals

13. Density – a measure of the mass of a mineral per unit volume, also used as a
diagnostic tool

14. Cleavage – what we see when a mineral breaks along a plane. To figure out is
something has cleavage or is just flat on the bottom lift it to the light. If cleavage is
present, the surface will glint in the light simultaneously

15. Fracture – an irregular break

16. Mineral groups

a. Oxide (O2-) - have oxygen as their anion. If oxygen is combined with

hydrogen, then it is a hydroxide

b. Sulphide ( S2-) – Have a metallic sheen. Ex// Galena, Chalcopyrite,

Molybdenite

c. Sulphate (S042-) – form when sulphate bearing water evaporates and a deposit
of sulphate mineral is left.

4
 d. Halide – Made of ionic bonds and some also form when mineral right water
evaporates. Ex// cryolite, fluorite and halite

e. Carbonate (CO32-) – combined with +2 cations to form minerals like calcite,

magnesite, dolomite and siderite.

f. Phosphate (PO42-) – Ex// hydroxyapatite and turquoise

g. Silicate (SiO44-) – Ex// elements silicon and oxygen

h. Native minerals – minerals made of a single element. Ex// gold, copper

17. Silica tetrahedron – a four-sided pyramid shape with oxygen in each corner and
silicon in the middle. Is the building block for
important minerals in crust and mantle

18. Silicate structures

a. Isolated tetrahedra silicate (e.g.,

olivine structure) – the simplest silica
structure composed of isolated tetrahedra with iron and/or magnesium ions

b) Single chain silicate (e.g.,

pyroxene structure) –
where one oxygen from
each tetrahedron is
shared with the next
tetrahedron. (Silicon –
Oxygen ratio Si:0)

c. Double chain silicate (e.g., amphibole structure) – linked in

double chains of oxygen

d) Sheet silicate (e.g., mica structure) – arranged in

continuous sheets
where each
tetrahedron
shares three
oxygen anions
with adjacent
tetrahedra

5
 b. Framework silicate (e.g., feldspar structure) – tetrahedra
are connected to each other in three-dimensional
structures rather than 2

i. Quartz- contains only silica tetrahedral

19. Rock – a solid mass of geological materials

a. Igneous rock – form when melted rock cools and solidifies

INtrusive rocks form
i. Intrusive – a rock formed when magma cool within the withiIN earth and
Earth EXtrusive rocks form
when lava EXits Earth
ii. Extrusive – a rock formed when lava cools on Earths
surface

b. Sedimentary rock – form when fragments of other rocks are buried,

compressed, and cemented together or when minerals precipitate from
solution

c. Metamorphic rock – form when high heat and pressure alter a pre-existing
rock, but don’t melt it

20. Rock cycle – [The processes that form rocks and which can transform one type of
rock to another] Starting with magma, it will make the tyles under earths surface
move. Mountain building lifts tock upwards where they are acted upon. This causes
deposits of sediments. These sediments are deposited into streams, lakes or deserts.
Unless they are re-eroded, they will be buried by more sediments. Rocks that are
buried very deep within the crust will reach higher pressure and temp and will
transform into metamorphic rock