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Minerals & Rocks
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Mineral | A naturally-occurring, inorganic solid that has a crystal structure and definite chemical composition. |
| Inorganic | Not formed from living things or the remains of living things. |
| Crystal | A solid in which the atoms are arranged in a pattern that repeats again and again. |
| Element | A substance composed of a single kind of atom. |
| Compound | A substance in which two or more elements are chemically joined. |
| Mohs hardness scale | A scale ranking ten minerals from softest to hardest; used in testing the hardness of mineral. |
| Streak | The color of a mineral's powder. |
| Luster | The way a mineral reflects light from its surface. |
| Cleavage | A mineral's ability to split easily along flat surfaces. |
| Fracture | The way a mineral looks when it breaks apart. |
| Fluorescence | The property of a mineral in which the mineral glows under ultraviolet light. |
| Solution | A mixture in which one substance is dissolved in another. |
| Vein | A narrow slab of a mineral that is sharply different from the surrounding rock. |
| Gemstone | A hard, colorful mineral that has a brilliant or glassy luster. |
| Ore | Rock that contains a metal or economically useful mineral. |
| Smelting | The process by which ore is melted to separate that useful metal from other elements. |
| Alloy | A solid mixture of two or more metals. |
| Texture | The look and feel of the rocks surface, determined by the size, shape, and pattern of a rock's grain. |
| Grain | A particle of mineral or other rock that gives a rock its texture. |
| Igneous rock | A type of rock that forms from the cooling of molten rock at or below the surface. |
| Sedimentary rock | A type of rock that forms when particles from other rocks or the remain of plants and animals are pressed and cemented together. |
| Metamorphic rock | A type of rock that forms from an existing rock that is changed by heat, pressure, or chemical reactions. |
| Extrusive rock | Igneous rock that forms from lava on earth's surface. |
| Intrusive rock | Igneous rock that forms when magma hardens beneath earth's surface. |
| Porphyritic texture | An igneous rock texture in which large crystals are scattered on a background of much smaller crystals. |
| Sediment | Small, solid pieces of material that comes from rocks or organisms. |
| Erosion | The destructive process in which water or wind loosen and carry away fragments of rock. |
| Deposition | The process by which sediment settles out of the water or wind that is carrying it. |
| Compaction | The process by which sediments are pressed together under their own weight. |
| Cementation | The process by which dissolved minerals crystallize and glue particles of sediment together into one mass. |
| Clastic rock | Sedimentary rock that forms when rock fragments are squeezed together under high pressure. |
| Organic rock | Sedimentary rock that forms where remains of organisms are deposited in thick layers. |
| Chemical rock | Sedimentary rock that forms when minerals crystallize from a solution. |
| Foliated | Term used to describe metamorphic rocks whose grains are arranged in parallel layers or bands. |
| Rock cycle | A series of processes on the surface and inside Earth that slowly change rocks from one kind to another. |
Created by:
vgodlove
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