Ma’am Norlainie Usaman

Mindanao State University

Siawadato Community High School
Maguing Lanao del Sur

1st Semester, AY 2024-2025

LESSON 2: Minerals
Minerals make up the rocks beneath your feet, the soil that supports plants, and the deep rock of Earth’s mantle. Any
thorough study of Earth must include an understanding of minerals. But it is not sufficient to study minerals isolated
from the rest of the planet. Rather we can learn more by observing the ways that minerals interact with other Earth
systems.
We are using these products made from minerals daily. Graphite is the mineral used in wooden pencil. Halite is the
mineral found in salt. Your cellphone is made up of different minerals. The cars that we drive, the roads that we travel,
the building that we live in, are some examples of products derived from minerals.
Minerals are the building blocks of rocks. A mineral is any naturally occurring inorganic solid that possesses an
orderly crystalline structure and can be represented by a chemical formula Mineralogists use the criteria to determine
whether a material is classified as a mineral or not.

Characteristics of Minerals
1. naturally occurring- term which identifies mineral as part of earth’s natural processes.
2. inorganic- means a substance is not a product of an organism.
3. homogeneous solid- minerals should have definite volume and rigid shape
4. definite chemical composition—represented by a chemical formula
5. orderly crystalline structure- atoms of minerals are arranged in an orderly and repeating pattern

Properties of Minerals
To identify minerals, mineralogists observe the following properties:
a. Color - mineral’s color may change depending on the surface. b. Streak - color of mineral in powdered
form.

c. Hardness - minerals resistance to scratching d. Cleavage - mineral’s resistance to being broken

and fracture
Mohs Scale of Hardness
(Diamond is the Hardest with a scale of 10)

e. Crystalline structure or habit. f. Diaphaneity/amount of transparency - ability to allow

The external shape of a crystal or groups of crystals light to pass through it. This is affected by chemical make up
is displayed / observed as these crystals grow of the mineral sample
in open spaces. A mineral that do not have
a crystal structure is described as amorphous.

1
 Ma’am Norlainie Usaman

g. Luster - how light is reflected off a surface

h. Tenacity- describes the minerals reaction to stress.

 Brittleness- a mineral turns into powder
 Malleability a mineral can be flattened by pounding with a hammer.
 Ductility- A mineral can be stretched into wire.
 Flexible but inelastic-Minerals are bent but they remain in the new position.
 Flexible and elastic- Minerals are bent, and they bring back to their original position.

i. Sectility- ability of minerals to be sliced by a knife.

2
 Ma’am Norlainie Usaman

LESSON 3: Rocks

Petrology is the scientific study of rocks. Rocks are combined aggregation of minerals. Petrologist classified rocks based
on how they were formed. In general, rocks are classified as igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rock.
Earth is a solid rock to a depth of 2,900 kilometers, where mantle meets the liquid outer core. A rock is a naturally
occurring solid aggregate of one or more minerals. The aggregate minerals forming the rocks are held together by
chemical bonds. Grains can be different in color, texture, and sizes. Geologists then group rocks into three categories
based on how the rocks form: igneous sedimentary and metamorphic rock. Petrology is the scientific study of rocks.
Petrologists classify rocks based on how they were formed.

Three types of Rocks

 Igneous- formed from hardening and crystallization of magma or molten material that originates deep within
the earth.
Two types of igneous rock:
A. Extrusive/Volcanic rock - forms when magma makes its way to Earth’s surface as lava and then cools. The crystals
are very small (fine-grained) since the cooling process is fast.
B. Intrusive/Plutonic - It cools slowly beneath the Earth surface and are created by magma. The intrusive igneous rocks
have very large crystals (coarse grained).

Igneous rocks are classified based on

1. Composition- it refers to rock’s mineral and chemical make-up.
Felsic – igneous rocks that are light in colors; feldspar and silicates
Mafic – dark-colored igneous rocks made up of magnesium, calcium and iron
Intermediate – refers to igneous rocks between mafic and felsic composition.
Ultramafic – denotes igneous rocks that composed chiefly of mafic minerals.
2. Texture - overall appearance of a rock based on the size, shape, and arrangement of interlocking mineral crystals.
Aphanistic – fine-grained rocks with crystals seen by aid of microscope.
Phaneritic - coarse-grained rocks
Porphyritic – large crystals with small crystals
Glassy - a rock that looks like colored glass with no visible mineral crystal.
Pyroclastic- results from explosive fragmentation of volcanic material.
Examples: Obsidian, pumice, basalt, granite, diorite, gabbro

 Metamorphic - forms from pre-existing rocks: either metamorphic, igneous, sedimentary or other metamorphic
rocks that have been altered by agents of metamorphism.
Examples: quartzite, marble, slate, phyllite
Metamorphism - transformation of one rock type into another.

2 types of metamorphism
1. Regional-due to changes in pressure and temperature over large region of the crust. It may happen when rock is buried
deep below the surface of the earth.
2. Contact-the rock minerals and textures are changed mainly by heat due to contact with magma.

Classification:
1.Texture - refers to the size arrangement and grains within the rock.
Foliation - any planar arrangement of mineral grains or structural features within the rock.
a. Foliated rocks – can be arranged in terms of increasing metamorphism, and it appeared layered or banded with
compressed mineral grains. Example: mica
b. Non-foliated rocks – usually made up of only few minerals.

3
 Ma’am Norlainie Usaman

 Sedimentary rocks provide information about surface conditions that existed in the Earth’s past.
 Particles of sand, shells, pebbles, and other fragments of materials called sediments, accumulate in layers and
over long period of time harden into rocks.
 Compaction-due to increase of pressure of layered sediments it bind together to form the sedimentary rocks.

Three types of sedimentary rocks

a. Clastic Sedimentary rock - formed from accumulation of clasts:
little pieces of broken rocks and shells.
Examples: conglomerate, breccia, sandstone, shale
b. Chemical - formed when dissolved minerals precipitate from a
solution.
Example: Halite - formed when a body of seawater becomes
closed off and evaporates.
c. Organic - rocks formed from the accumulation of animal debris
Example: Coal - composed of organic matter in the form of plants fragments.

4
 Ma’am Norlainie Usaman

LESSON 4: Exogenic Processes

The earth’s surface is composed of water and landmasses. The solid portion is made out of rocks and minerals that could
experience changes either physically or chemically. The weathered materials are transported by different agents from one
place to another and will settle down in a particular area. These progressions that happen are achieved by forms called
exogenic processes. It includes weathering, erosion, and deposition.

Weathering refers to the process of disintegration and decomposition of rocks. There are two types of weathering:
mechanical weathering and chemical weathering.
Mechanical weathering or physical weathering is the breakdown of rocks into pieces without any change in its
composition. In this process, the size and shape of rocks changes and this occurs because of the following factors shown
in the table below.

In chemical weathering, there are changes in the composition of rocks due to the chemical reactions presented below.

5
 Ma’am Norlainie Usaman

Weathering is an important process in the formation of soil. Soil is a mixture of grains, organic matter, H2O, and gas.
Erosion is the separation and removal of weathered rocks due to different agents like water, wind, and glacier that causes
transportation of the material to where they are deposited. Plants, animals, and humans play an important role in the
erosional process.
The movement of sediments downslope under the influence of gravity is called mass wasting. The examples of this are
fall, slide, avalanche, and flow. On the other hand, deposition is the process in which the weathered materials carried out
by erosion settle down in a particular location.

LESSON 5: The Earth’s Internal Heat

Heat energy plays a vital role in our planet. It is one of the extreme factors in what makes the world liveable. If you think
of a volcano, you know Earth must be hot inside. Our planet's internal heat shifts continents, creates mountains, and
produces earthquakes, but where does all this heat inside the earth originate?

Before we proceed to the sources of heat, let’s have a short review of layers of the earth. Basically, Planet Earth has 3
main layers, these are Crust, Mantle and Core. The Crust of the earth is a very thin layer when compared to the 3 other
layers. The Mantle is the largest layer of the earth with estimated 1800 miles thick. The mantle is composed of very hot
dense rock called magma, because of the high temperatures with the Mantle, the rock is kept in a semi-liquefied state.
The Outer Core is composed of liquefied metals such as nickel and iron. It is kept in it liquefied state because of the
immense heat in this layer. The Inner Core is also composed of metals however they are not kept in a liquefied state. It
is believed that the temperature and pressure at depth is so great that the metals are squeezed tightly together restricting
movement, so much that the particles have to vibrated in place almost like a solid structure.

Sources of heat in our planet can be identified as Primordial and Radiogenic heat. During the early formation of the
Earth, the internal heat energy that gradually gathered together by means of dispersion in the planet during its few
million years of evolution is called Primordial heat. The major contribution of this internal heat is the accretional
energy – the energy deposited during the early formation of a planet. The core is a storage of primordial heat that
originates from times of accretion when kinetic energy of colliding particles was transformed into thermal energy. This
heat is constantly lost to the outer silicate layers of the mantle and crust of the earth through convection and conduction.
In addition, the heat of the core takes tens of thousands of years to reach the surface of the earth. Today, the surface of
the earth is made of a cold rigid rock since 4.5 billion years ago, the earth’s surface cools from the outside but the core is
still made of extremely hot material.

On the other hand, the thermal energy released as a result of spontaneous nuclear disintegration is called Radiogenic
Heat. It involves the disintegration of natural radioactive elements inside the earth – like Uranium, Thorium and
Potassium. Uranium is a special kind of element because when it decays, heat (radiogenic) is produced. Estimated at 47
terawatts (TW), the flow of heat from Earth’s interior to the surface and it comes from two main sources in equal
amounts: the radiogenic heat produced by the radioactive decay of isotopes in the mantle and crust, and the primordial
heat left over from the formation of the Earth. Radioactive elements exist everywhere on earth in a fairly significant
concentration. Without the process of radioactive decay, there would be fewer volcanoes and earthquakes – and less
formation of earth’s vast mountain ranges.
Sources of Heat and Heat Transfer

Both sources of heat whether primordial or radiogenic undergo heat transfer and it plays an important role to the
continuous changes and development of our planet. In connection, another part of this module describes the heat transfer
in the Earth. Three processes can transfer heat: conduction, convection, and radiation.

Conduction processes happen in the earth’s surface

and it directs the thermal settings in almost entire
solid portions of the Earth and plays a very important
role in the lithosphere. One of the three main ways of
heat transfer is conduction. Technically, it can be
defined as the process by which heat energy is
transmitted through collisions between neighboring
atoms or molecules. Conduction carries heat from the
Earth's core and radiation from the Sun to the Earth's
surface. When the atmosphere in normal temperature
contacts with the warm surfaces of the land, it
transfer thermal energy, then it will heats up the rest
of the air through convection.

6
 Ma’am Norlainie Usaman
Convection is the transfer of heat by the movement of mass, and it is a more effective mode of heat transport in the
Earth than pure conduction. Convection dominates the thermal conditions in zones with significant amounts of fluids
(molten rocks) and thus governs the heat transport in the fluid outer core and the mantle. In geological time scale, due to
the tremendous temperature, the mantle acts like a viscous fluid. In convection current, the mantle of the earth moves
slowly because of transfer of heat from the interior of the earth up to the surface. This results to the movement of
tectonic plates. Hot materials are added at the edges of a plate and then it cools. At those edges, it becomes dense by its
exposure from the heat and sinks into the earth at an ocean trench. This starts the formation of volcanoes.

Radiation is the least important mode of heat transport in the Earth. The process of heat exchange between the Sun and
the Earth, through radiation, controls the temperatures at the Earth's surface. Inside the Earth, radiation is significant only
in the hottest parts of the core and the lower mantle. When the land and water become warm in summer, it emits long –
wavelength infrared radiation that is readily absorbed by the atmosphere. This continues during night time too.
Convection in the air then spreads out the thermal energy throughout the atmosphere.