EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E
Our Earth: Its Climate, History, and Processes
David Schultz, University of Manchester
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C O U R S E L E C T U R E Rocks and Minerals Notes taken on July 2, 2015 by Edward Tanguay |
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mineral
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naturally occurring
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something like glass or concrete would not be a mineral
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solid crystalline substance
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something like opal is not a mineral, which is simply an amorphous form of silica or non-crystalline solid, lacks the long-range order characteristic of a crystal
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usually inorganic
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we can have some organic minerals e.g. a compound containing organic food-based acids, such as amino acids and citric acid
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has a specific chemical composition
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must have a chemical formula that you can write down
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halite
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commonly known as rock salt, or table salt
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the mineral form of sodium chloride (NaCl)
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Muscovite mica
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very thin sheets
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a phyllosilicate (hydrated, with either water or hydroxyl groups attached) mineral of aluminum and potassium with formula KAl2(AlSi3O10)(F,OH)2, or (KF)2(Al2O3)3(SiO2)6(H2O)
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rock
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naturally occurring
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solid aggregate of minerals
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could be a single mineral, e.g. a chunk of halite is also considered a rock
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is usually a mixture of minerals
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also can contain non-mineral solid matter
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coal
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combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock
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composed primarily of carbon along with variable quantities of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen