1-2PHY103 (1)
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Southern New Hampshire University *
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103
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Geology
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Jan 9, 2024
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PHY103
1-2
Minerals, Rocks, the Rock Cycle, and Soils
A mineral is an inorganic solid material that is also naturally occurring and has a
chemical compound (Lutgens et al., 2021).
Since it is an inorganic material it cannot be made by
a living component.
If we compare something like a rock found in the dirt and a coral reef, they
both seem like natural solids, but coral is an organic substance and can’t be a mineral
(Mikesammartano, 2013), whereas a rock can be made up of different minerals.
Diamonds,
graphite, talcum powder, and crystals are common examples of minerals and have steady
chemical compounds.
Some physical properties that minerals have can be different luster and hardness.
Minerals that luster are generally shinier in appearance and light that can reflect off the mineral.
Metallic luster can be a mineral like native copper, but also oxidizes and isn’t so shiny when
exposed to the atmosphere.
And quartz is an example of a mineral that light might reflect easily
on.
The examples of luster are below.
And the hardness of the mineral depends on how well the
chemical compound is bonded.
Diamonds are a 10 on the Mohs scale, which makes them the
hardest mineral.
We can see how the atoms are arranged in Mike Sammartano’s youtube video
making them a very hard mineral.
Quartz belongs to a silicate mineral group, and diamond and
copper belong to a native element non-silicate mineral group (Lutgens et al., 2021).
copper
quartz
Igneous rocks form from the cooling and crystalization of lava or magma.
A subtype of
igneous rocks are plutonic rocks.
These rocks are formed and solidified below Earth’s surface.
Mount Rushmore is an example of plutonic rocks that have been uplifted because the rocks on
top were stripped by erosion
(Lutgens et al., 2021).
Mount Rushmore
The basic rock cycle shows that magma or lava solidifies making igneous rocks, then
some rocks are uplifted and erosion can happen to cause sediment.
The sediment then is
compacted and makes sedimentary rocks.
The heat and pressure from the Earth’s core turn the
sedimentary rocks into metamorphic rocks, and then melting can occur and this starts the cycle
over again by going back to magma (Lutgens et al., 2021).
Soil is a mixture of organic and inorganic materials.
There is sediment and decaying
plants and animals.
Sand, silt, and clay are the main mineral matters in soil.
And the soil is
different everywhere depending on the location and organisms living in the soil.
There are 12
classifications of soil, entisols, inceptisols, mollisols, alfisols, ultisols, oxisols, vertisols,
aridisols, spodosols, histosols, andisols, and gelisols.
Each of these soils consists of different
characteristics and structures (Hccnatres, 2007).
Resources
Lutgens, F. K., Tarbuck, E. J., & Tasa, D. G. (2021). Foundations of Earth Science (9th ed.).
Pearson Education (US).
https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9780135851616
[Mikesammartano]. (2013, January 11).
Understanding Minerals
[Video]. Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a7p1NFn64s
[Hccnatres]. (2007, January 31).
Brief soil intro
[Video]. Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNJFksa9sJc
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