ROCKS AND MINERALS

Unit

Rocks and Minerals

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Let's jump into the GEOSPHERE!

This is sulphur. It's a mineral. Minerals are substances that occur naturally on Earth and in other places in the Universe.

These are rocks. Rocks also occur naturally. They are made of different minerals and fragments of other rocks.

Some rocks contain material from dead animals and plants. Fossils can be seen in some types of rocks.

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pyrite

MINERALS

Minerals are inorganic substances that occur naturally on or under the Earth's surface. They can be pure elements or compounds elements (more than one element). All minerals hace a crystal structure.

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Properties of minerals.

Each mineral has a different composition and special structure. This gives each mineral its own colour, crystal structure, lustre and hardness. Scientits use these properties to classyfy the minerals.

diamonds

Colour: Minerals are different colours. Some minerals are white and others are gray. Many of them have bright colours. Sulphur is yellow, quartz can be pink or purple and cobalt is blue.

amethyst

garnet

Crystal structure: Minerals have different shaped crystals. Fos example, sodium crystals are square, quarts crystals have six sides, mica crystals are flat sheets and calcium crystals are sharp.

Lustre: Minerals react different to light. Some reflect a lot of light and look shiny (gold and diamonds). Others reflect less light and look dull (graphite or talc)

talc

Hardness: It's the resistance of a mineral to scratching. Some minerals are very hard (they are difficukt to scratch like diamonds) and other mineral are soft (talc is an example).

fluorite

02

ROCKS

The lithosphere is the solid, outer layer of the Earth. It's made up of the crust, which is solid rock, and upper part of the mantle, where it's hotter and the rock is more fluid. Rocks are made of one or more minerals. They can also contain the remains of living things and fragments of other rocks.

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granite

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