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48 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is a ROCK?
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It is composed of one or more minerals. (Composition is not exact)
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What are MINERALS?
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Naturally occurring solids that have a specific chemical composition and a specific crystal structure.
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What is COMMONNESS?
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Minerals are based on the abundance in the Earth's crust.
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Describe Quartz.
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Oxygen(O) and Silicon(Si).
-Common in most rock types. -Very hard and very durable. -Addition of impurities changes colors. |
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Describe Feldspar.
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Al, Si, O with the addition of K, Na and Ca.
-Very common - 60% of the crust by weight. -Two major groups -Almost as durable as quatz |
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Describe Mafic Minerals.
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Al, Si and O plus Ca, Fe, Mg
-Common in many igneous rocks -Not very durable at the surface(oxidize) -Some of these are important for mining. |
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What are the 3 types of ROCKS?
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Igneous, Sedimentary, Metamorphic
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What is an IGNEOUS ROCK?
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A rock resulting from the cooling of liquid rock both above and below ground.
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What are the 2 basic types of IGNEOUS ROCKS?
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Intrusive and Extrusive
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What is an INTRUSIVE Igneous Rock?
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Below ground the liquid rock cools slowly - gives mineral crystals time to grow larger.
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What is an EXTRUSIVE Igneous Rock?
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Lava flows and ash falls, both make layers at the ground surface.
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What is a SEDIMENTARY ROCK?
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-Rock beds that record past environments.
-Comprised of rock fragments washed into basins and preserved |
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What are the 2 main types of SED. ROCKS?
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Clastic and Carbonates
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What are the 3 main groups of CLASTIC Sed. Rocks?
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Conglomerate, Sandstone, Siltstone (Mudstone/Shale)
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What are CARBONATES?
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Rocks comprised of CaCO3 (Limestone)
-Precipitate directly from sea water -Accumulations of animal shells |
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What are 2 OTHER sedimentary rocks?
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Coal - compressed organic material
Evaporites - precipitate from evaporating seawater or lake water |
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Why are beaches almost always nothing but quartz sand?
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Quartz is one of the hardest, most durable minerals and is the most common mineral
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Where did all this clay (mud) come from?
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Clay from several weathered minerals
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Where did all the Calcium come from in this CaCO3 reef?
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Dissolved rock
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Why are these rocks red?
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Iron Oxide
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What are METAMORPHIC ROCKS?
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Heat and pressure cause new minerals to grow without melting.
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What is a Sedimentary Enviornment?
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A place where sediments are collecting building up over time, layer by layer, thickening
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What are the two main DIVISIONS of sedimentary enviornments?
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Non-Marine (Continental)
Marine |
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What are the 3 CONTINENTAL ENVIRONMENTS?
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Alluvial, Rivers and Streams, and Lakes
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What is an ALLUVIAL continental environment?
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Very coarse sediments along mountain fronts (sediments are called alluvial)
Material is too large to be carried away from the mountains |
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What are RIVER and STREAM continental environments?
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Sediments called FLUVIAL, accumulate in FLOODPLAINS.
Direct correlation of water velocity to grain size. Fast Water: Only Gravel, Cobbles, and Boulders remain Slow Water: River only carries sand and mud |
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What is a LAKE continental environment?
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-Trapped sediments in continental interiors
-These create some of the best regional climate records in the world. |
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What are the 3 MARINE ENVIRONMENTS?
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Shallow
Reefs and Carbonate Platforms Deep |
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What is a SHALLOW marine environment?
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Extend from the shore out to the edge of continental shelves (max water depths of about 200 m)
Main factor is the depth of wave base = depth that waves are able to reach down and stir sediments |
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What are REEF and CARBONATE PLATFORM marine environment?
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Animals that secrete carbonate skeletons build reefs
Platforms build up where CaCO3 precipitates from Ca-saturated Seawater |
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What is a DEEP marine environment?
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Fine sediments that settle out of water or are carried to deep water in underwater mudslides.
The entire region below wave base |
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What are the 3 types of TRANSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS?
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Barrier Islands
Tidal Flats Deltas |
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What is a BARRIER ISLAND?
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Created by wave action, protect lagoons
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What is a TIDAL FLAT?
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Currents distribute mud and sand
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What is a DELTA?
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Thick accumulations of sediment where rivers enter the sea
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What are the two EXCEPTIONS for continental environments?
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-Dry, Sandy Deserts
-Beneath Glaciers/Icecaps/Ice Sheets |
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How do you determine the environment just by looking at a sedimentary rock?
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-Grain Size
-Sorting -Sedimentary Structures |
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What grain sizes are deposited in fast flowing rivers?
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Conglomerate: fragments larger than 2mm
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What is sorting?
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The uniformity of grain size.
Poorly sorted = many sizes Well sorted = one size |
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What are Sedimentary Structures?
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Ripple Marks, Trace Fossils, Mud Cracks, Graded Bedding, CrossBedding
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What is Walther's Law?
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Sedimentary rocks we see stacked vertically in a section most often represent deposition from closely related, adjacent environments.
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What is a fossil?
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The preserved remains of an organism
A trace of an organism's activity |
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What are the 3 KEY factors that help something become a fossil?
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-Have something that can be easily fossilized: shells, teeth, bones
-Rapid Burial: Protection from scavengers, destruction, bioturbation -Become Preserved |
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What are the 3 ways something can be preserved as a fossil? EXPLAIN THEM.
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Permineralization: fill voids in the tissue with minerals from groundwater
Replacement: As tissues dissolve in water, it is replaced by minerals that precipitate from that same water. Carbonization: Complex proteins and carbohydrates decompose, leaving behind carbon, which remains as a stable film |
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What is EVOLUTION?
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Earliest scientists noted something obvious: fossils change
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What is a Hypothesis?
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An idea that needs to be tested
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What is a THEORY?
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Has been tested over and over again
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What is a LAW?
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Observable, measurable fact
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