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Contents:
Rocks & Minerals
  • What are they?
  • Telling them Apart
  • Mineral Identifier
  • Classifying Rocks
  • The Rock Cycle
  • Igneous Rocks
  • Metamorphic Rocks
  • Sedimentary Rocks

    Geology of the Earth

  • Plate Tectonics
  • Geological Time
  • Natural Disasters

    Collections

  • Starting a Collection
  • Organizing

    Field Trips

  • Preparing
  • Using Maps

    Safety Tips

  • Safe Rockhounding
  • Code of Conduct

    Clubs & Societies

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    		•  
    What are Rocks and Minerals?
    By Marilyn Fraser


      Native Elements:

    Au - Gold
    Ag - Silver
    Cu - Copper
    Hg - Mercury
    Pt - Platinum
    Fe - Iron
    C - Diamond (Carbon)
    S - Sulfur

    Complex Minerals:

    SiO2 - Quartz
    NaCl - Halite (salt)
    PbS - Galena (lead)
    FeS2 - Pyrite

    Rocks
    Rocks are made up of minerals.

    Diamond
    Diamond is a native element. This mineral consists entirely of the element carbon.

    Quartz
    Quartz is a mineral that consists of a mixture of elements.

     

    Minerals

    What is the difference between a mineral and a rock? Minerals are the "building blocks" from which rocks are made. Some minerals, such as gold, sulphur and copper, consist entirely of one chemical element. These minerals are called Native Elements.

    Other minerals are more complicated mixtures of elements. But the composition of each mineral is always the same. For example, Quartz is always one third silicon and two thirds oxygen. Halite (the "official" name for salt) is always one atom of sodium to each one of chlorine.


    Rocks

    Rocks are nearly always mixtures of minerals, and because they are formed in different ways (or even changed after they are formed) they can vary quite a lot. For example, granite is usually about 20% quartz, 75% feldspar and 5% mica, but these proportions vary and the rock often contains small amounts of other minerals as well.


    What are Rocks and Minerals
    used for?

    Man has been using minerals in his everyday life ever since he discovered a sharp-edged piece of flint made an excellent tool or weapon.

    Today minerals provide all our metals. They are the raw material for fertilizers. They are used in making paper, paint, soft drinks and medicines as well as aircraft and video tapes. The chalk used for the black board is all mineral.

    Explore from here:


    Copyright ©1998 Marilyn Fraser
    E-mail: silver@tor.axxent.ca

    This article may not be copied, distributed or reprinted in any form without the author's permission. To contact the author, please use the e-mail address provided. If you are unable to contact the author, please contact the Canadian Rockhound. Authorized reprints must acknowledge the author, original source and the Canadian Rockhound, and include the website URL address of the Canadian Rockhound.

    Images of minerals are Copyright ©1995-96 by Amethyst Galleries, Inc., and are used here for educational purposes only.


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