Common Rock Forming
Minerals
The Common Rock-forming Minerals
Earth’s Crust
Primarily Si & O followed in abundance by
Fe, Mg, Ca, Na, K, etc.
Dark-colored silicates (mantle and oceanic crust)
Olivine (Si, O, Fe, Mg)
Pyroxene (Si, O, Fe, Mg, Ca)
Amphibole (Si, O, Fe, Mg, Ca, Al, K)
Light-colored silicates (crust, esp. continental crust)
Quartz (SiO2) - Hard, transparent
Feldspar (Si, O, Al, K, Na, Ca) - Hard, white, gray, pink
Clay (Mostly come from weathering feldspar)
Calcite (CaCO3, shells) Limestone - Used for cement
Basic Building Block of Silicate Minerals:
The Silicon-Oxygen Tetrahedron
An anion with charge of -4
1 silicon (Si) atom
4 oxygen (O) atoms
2-
O
4-
4+ SiO4
Si
2-
O
2-
O Silicon tetrahedron has
2- An overall charge of -4
O
Silicates: The Common Rock-forming Minerals
Tetrahedra link up by forming
covalent bonds between oxygen atoms:
Single silicon tetrahedron: Two tetrahedra can join
A silicon atom covalently- by sharing an electron
bonded to four oxygens. between adjacent oxygen
atoms
Oxygen atom
Silicon atom
The Common rock-forming minerals
Silicates
Silicon-oxygen tetrahedra can be arranged into:
Double chains: Amphibole
Single chains: Pyroxene Sheets: Micas
Balancing Charges in Silicates: Role of Metal Cations
Silicate chains and sheets
Not electrically neutral! Unsatisfied
negative charges
on oxygen atoms
located at the
edges of chains,
or between
sheets, are
Iron (Fe) neutralized by
Magnesium (Mg) coordinating
Potassium (K) metallic ions at
Sodium (Na) those sites.
Aluminum (Al)
Calcium (Ca)
Ionic Substitution
Ions of similar size (ionic radius) and charge
can substitute for one another in a mineral.
Definition of a rock:
A rock is:
1) Comprised of one or more minerals
2) Naturally occurring
There are three types of rocks:
Igneous (formed by cooling from magma)
Sedimentary (formed by the breakdown of other rocks)
Metamorphic (formed when preexisting rocks
are heated under pressure.
Rocks and minerals
Some rocks composed entirely of one mineral
limestone (calcite)
Most rocks have more than one kind of mineral
granite
Some rocks contain non-mineral matter
coal (has organic debris)
obsidian (volcanic glassy rock -> not crystalline)
rock
collection of
one or more
rock minerals
rock minerals
mineral
So far we have:
rock minerals
mineral
collection of
one or more
minerals
A collection
of one or more
types of atoms
Example:
Granite & its
constituent
minerals:
➢Quartz
➢Amphibole (hornblende)
➢Feldspar
➢Mica
Mica (Minerals)
The Rock Cycle
Rocks may be classified into three types:
➢Igneous:
Formed by the crystallization of
molten rock material called magma
➢Sedimentary:
Formed from pre-existing rocks by
weathering (chemical and physical breakup)
and erosion (transport).
➢Metamorphic:
Formed by textural and compositional changes
that occur when pre-existing rocks are buried
and subjected to increased temperatures and
pressures.
➢Rock Cycle (see accompanying slide):
Connects the three rock groups to each other by process.
Rock Cycle
Igneous rocks
Why care?
Igneous rocks make up bulk of Earth’s crust.
Earth’s mantle is composed entirely of igneous rock!
Igneous rocks are important economically as
building stones and as host rocks for a variety of
mineral (ore) deposits.
Volcanic activity is a well-known geological hazard,
and the associated igneous rocks hold the secrets
for understanding both the nature of past volcanic
eruptions and the potential for future eruption hazards.
Volcanic Igneous Rocks
➢Igneous rocks that
form by the eruption
of magma at the
surface are called
volcanic (or
extrusive).
➢Magma erupted at
the surface is called
lava.
➢Fragmented
materials are called
pyroclastic and
consist of ash &
cinders.
In igneous rocks, texture is
controlled by the cooling rate
of the magma.
Cooling Rate Crystal Size
Slow cooling larger crystals
Fast cooling small or no crystals
Plutonic Igneous Rocks
Igneous rocks that
form deep below the
surface are called
plutonic (intrusive)
igneous rocks.
To see them, they
must be uplifted to
surface
and the overlying rock
eroded away.
As a magma cools, atoms arrange themselves
into orderly crystalline structures called
minerals. This process is called:
✓Crystallization
ALL ROCKS ARE CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THEIR:
TEXTURE AND MINERAL COMPOSITION
Texture involves
a consideration of :
a. Size
b. Shape of the minerals
making up a rock.
c. Arrangement
Types of Igneous Textures
Fine-grained Coarse-grained
Porphyritic Glassy
Types of Igneous Textures
fast cooling magma/lava forms deep
forms at or near surface below the surface
sometimes gas holes present slow cooling
hard to see individual crystals crystals are corase
and intergrown
Fine-grained Coarse-grained
magma cooled slowly for a rapid cooling
while then erupted (quenching) at
minerals crystallized at surface
different temperatures and amorphous:
or rates over a period of time atoms unable to
form orderly
crystalline
Porphyritic Glassy
structures
