Rocks And Minerals Essay

Table of Content

Harmonizing to Webster’s Dictionary, the definition of a mineral is an inorganic substance. Citrine is one of the most popular minerals. It is a assortment of vitreous silica. Citrine is a yellow-orange mineral. Citrine is a really popular gemstone because it is really low-cost and really reasonably. Along with topaz, citrine is the birthstone for the month of November and the anniversary gemstone for the 17th twelvemonth of matrimony ( www.jewelrymall.com ) . Citrine is besides considered a symbol of hope, youth, wellness, and fidelity ( www.houseofonyx.com ) . In ancient times, citrine was carried as a protection against serpent venom and evil ideas ( www.jewelers.net ) . Other names for citrine are Imperial Topaz, Oriental Topaz, and Cherished Topaz.

Chemical Formula

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A chemical expression is what elements make up the mineral ( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) . These elements can be found on the periodic tabular array. The chemical expression of citrine is SiO2, which is Si and O ( www.galleries.com ) .

Silicate or Non-silicate

Harmonizing to Webster’s Dictionary, a silicate mineral is a combination of Si, O, and one or more minerals. Because citrine is made up of Si and O, it is a silicate mineral.

Physical Properties

The belongingss you can detect without altering a substance into a new substance are physical belongingss ( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) . The five chief physical belongingss in minerals are hardness, cleavage, break, run and lustre.

Hardness

Hardness is a step of how easy a mineral can be scratched. Hardness is normally measured on Mohs hardness graduated table. The graduated table is measured from one to ten, with one being the softest and 10 being the hardness ( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) . All sorts of vitreous silicas have a hardness of seven. Because citrine is in the quartz household, it has a hardness of seven ( www.galleries.com ) .

Cleavage & A ; Fracture

Minerals that break along smooth level surfaces have cleavage. Cleavage is determined by the agreement of mineral’s atoms ( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) . Citrine has no cleavage, therefore it has break. Minerals that interruption with unsmooth or jagged borders have break. Citrine has break because it has no cleavage ( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) .

Streak

The colour of a mineral when it is broken up and powdered is called run ( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) . The run of citrine is white.

Luster

Luster describes how light is reflected from a mineral’s surface ( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) . The lustre of citrine is vitreous, or closely resembles glass ( www.minerals.net ) .

Location

Citrine is found in most topographic points but most mineworkers and makers go to Brazil to happen it because of the quality and handiness at that place ( www.jewelers.net ) .

Uses

Citrine is largely used for jewellery but is besides found in oscillators and timekeepers for wirelesss ( www.jewelryblvd.com ) . Citrine is besides used a batch as a replacement for xanthous sapphire and xanthous diamond. Minerals are found in many sorts of stones. In this following subdivision, you will larn how minerals make up stones, and how stones are formed.

A stone is a mixture of minerals, mineraloids, glass, or organic affair ( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) . Most people know what a stone is but they don? Ts know how it forms. The procedure of how stones form is called the stone rhythm. In this study, you will larn about the phases in the stone rhythm and the three different types of stone in the stone rhythm.

Background

James Hutton came up with the stone rhythm. Hutton is known as the eminent eighteenth century husbandman and laminitis of modern geoscience ( www.science.ubc.ca ) . Scientists all over the universe are still utilizing Hutton’s stone rhythm today.

Igneous Rocks

Igneous stones are sometimes referred as fire stones. They form under land or above land ( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) . All pyrogenic stones are formed in the procedure of vent formation ( www.windows.umich.edu ) . Igneous stones come in two signifiers, intrusive and extrusive.

Intrusive Rocks

Rocks that form below the Earth’s surface are called intrusive stones ( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) . Intrusive stones form when magma gets trapped in little pockets below the Earth’s surface. As these pockets of magma cool, the magma becomes pyrogenic stones. ( www.fi.edu ) .

Extrusive Rocks

Extrusive stones are formed when lava from vents cool on or near the Earth’s surface

( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) . The lava cools because it is exposed to air and wet. The air and wet cause the stone to indurate. The harden magma becomes stones called extrusive stones ( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) . An illustration of an extrusive stone is rhyolite.

Rhyolite

An illustration of a powdered, extrusive pyrogenic stone is rhyolite. Rhyolite is an pyrogenic stone because it forms from vent eruptions. Rhyolite can look really different depending on how it erupts ( www.volcanoes.usgs.edu ) . Rhyolite can be made up of many different colourss runing from dark grey to tap ( www.infoplease.com ) . Particular pieces of rhyolite will demo a spider neting design.

Mineral makeup

Rhyolite is really closely related to granite. The difference is rhyolite has much finer crystals. These crystals are so little that they can non be seen by the bare oculus. Rhyolite really quickly which gives it a glassy visual aspect. The minerals that make up rhyolite are quartz, feldspar, isinglass, and hornblende. All of this information is harmonizing to www.volcano.nodak.edu.

Location

Rhyolite is found all over the universe where there are volcanic mountains ( www.britannica.com ) . Certain colourss of rhyolite are found in certain topographic points, though. For illustration, certain sorts of ruddy rhyolite are merely found in California and parts of Nevada. This information is harmonizing to www.encarta.msn.com.

Uses

Rhyolite has no utilizations because it is a volcanic stone. Some stone aggregators think rhyolite is

valuable stone, though. An igneo

us stone is merely one of three types of stones. Another type of stone is a sedimentary stone.

Sediments

Sediments are loose stuff such as stone fragments, mineral grains, and spots of works and animate being remains that have been moved by air current, H2O, ice, or gravitation. These deposits form a stone called a sedimentary stone.

Sedimentary Rock

Rocks that form when deposits become pressed or cemented together are called sedimentary stones ( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) . Sedimentary stones cover about 75 % of the Earth’s surface. Sedimentary stones are normally classified by two sorts, detrial or chemical.

Detrial Sedimentary Rocks

Rocks that are made from broken fragments or other stones are called detrial stones ( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) . These broken fragments compact or cement together like all sedimentary stones. Detrial stones are frequently referred to as clastic stones.

Clastic

Detrial sedimentary stones are frequently referred to as clastic stones because of their texture. The word clastic comes from the Grecian word significance? broken? ( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) . Clastic stones are from solid grain unlike chemical sedimentary stones ( www.oswego.edu ) . Examples of clastic stones are sandstone and shale.

Chemical Sedimentary Rocks

Rocks that form from minerals precipitating out of H2O are called chemical sedimentary stones. The sedimentations of minerals that remain after vaporization harden, and organize chemical sedimentary stones. An illustration of a chemical sedimentary stone is limestone.

Limestone

Limestone is a powdered, chemical sedimentary stone. It is a sedimentary stone because it forms from deposits being pressed or cemented together ( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) . Most limestone is grey but all colourss of limestone from white to black have been found ( www.artistictile.net ) . It normally contains dodos such as shells or other animate being remains. In some instances, the dodos make up most of the stone ( www.em.gov.bc.ca ) .

Mineral makeup

Limestone is largely made up of the mineral calcite. The other minerals in limestone can differ greatly because it is found in a batch of environments. Examples of these other minerals are dolomite and aragonite.

Location

Limestone is found all over the universe but the most common signifier of limestone is found in marine environments.

Uses

Limestone makes an first-class edifice rock because it can be carved easy. It can be cut any manner without dividing. Limestone is particularly good for foundations and walls where a high gloss is non needed. Limestone is besides used in concrete. Some mills use limestone to clean waste gases and H2O before let go ofing them into the environment. I have completed relation you about pyrogenic and sedimentary stones. Next, I will state you about the 3rd and concluding type of stone, metamorphous stones.

Metamorphic Rocks

Metamorphic stones are formed by action of force per unit area, temperature, and fluids. When stones are profoundly buried into the Earth, they can deform. New minerals crystallize on them to organize metamorphous stones ( www.marshallnet.com ) . The two sorts of metamorphous stones are foliated and non-foliated.

Foliated Rocks

When mineral grains flatten and line up in parallel sets, it is called a foliated stone ( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) . Foliated stones look like stepping-stones or stair stairss. They are arranged into beds when they are exposed to heat and coerce unlike non-foliated stones.

Non-foliated stones

Metamorphic stones where no stria occurs are called non-foliated stones. Minerals inside the stones change, grow, and rearrange, but they don? t set together like foliated stones ( Feather & A ; Snyder, 1999 ) . One illustration of a non-foliated stone is marble.

Marble

Marble is a non-foliated metamorphous stone. Marble is a stone formed by the metamorphism of limestone. Marble can be a assortment of colourss depending on assorted drosss. Marble is ever distinguished by being softer than glass. ( www.calvin.edu ) .

Mineral makeup

Marble is chiefly composed of the mineral calcite ( www.minerals.net ) . Some marble has fluctuations of minerals. The fluctuations give marble a broad assortment of colourss ( www.artistictile.net ) .

Location

Marble is found in many states, including Belgium, France, Greece, India, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Some South American states besides have some marble. In the United States, Georgia produces the most marble. Other marble bring forthing provinces include Alabama, Colorado, Montana, Tennessee, Texas, and Vermont ( www.artistictile.net ) .

Uses

Marble has been extremely valued for its beauty, strength, and opposition to fire and eroding. The ancient Greeks used marble in many edifices and statues and it is still being used today in floors and other parts of edifices. Smaller pieces of marble are crushed and used as abradants in soaps. Crushed marble is besides used in paving roads and in roofing stuffs ( www.minerals.net ) . That concludes the three types of stones. Now you will larn about the procedure of the stone rhythm.

The procedure of the stone rhythm Molten rock stuff solidifies at deepness or at the Earth’s surface to organize pyrogenic stones.

Upheaval and exposure of stones at the Earth’s surface destabilizes the mineral constructions. The minerals break down into smaller grains, which are transported and deposited as deposits. The deposits or compacted and cemented and sedimentary stones are formed. Changes in temperature and force per unit area can let pyrogenic and sedimentary stones to alter physically or chemically to organize metamorphous stones. At higher temperatures, metamorphous stones may be partly melted, and crystallisation of this thaw will make pyrogenic stones. Upheaval and eroding can expose all stones types at the surface, re-initializing the rhythm.

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