What is a Mineral?
A mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic solid, with a definitechemical composition and an ordered atomic arrangement. This is kind of hard to understand but if you break it down it becomes very understandable.
Minerals are naturally occurring,they can not have been made by humans.
Minerals are inorganic, meaning they could never have been alive and are not made up of living tissues like plants or animals.
Minerals are naturally occurring solids, not liquids (like water), or gases (like the Oxygen or Carbon Dioxide)Although snow, sleet and ice are minerals. (remember naturally occurring) Ice cubes do not qualify!
Minerals have a definite chemical composition, each mineral is made of a particular chemical element or group of chemical elements.
Minerals have an ordered atomic arrangement, The elements that make up any mineral are arranged in a particular way - this is why minerals 'grow' as crystals. Like elements naturallywant to group together in a crystal structure that is unique to that mineral.
All the Elements that make up every mineral can be found on the Periodic Table
What is a Fossil?
The word Fossil comes from the Latin word Fossilis meaning Dug up. There are two types of fossils, Body Fossils are the physical remains of living things that have been naturally preserved. In most cases only the hard parts of the animal like teeth, bones and shells become fossilized. There are instances where feathers skin and fur have also been found. The body parts become buried by sediments and absorb minerals and Carbon and become stone.
The other type of fossil is a Trace Fossil. A Trace fossil is the physical evidence that a living thing had once been there. These include foot prints, tail drags, insect trails, leaf impressions, invertebrate burrows and feces.
Sedimentary Structures
Any visible feature made by natural occurrences is considered a Sedimentary Structure. These visible features within Sedimentary Rocks that formed at the time they were deposited and are a geological record of that moment in time. The most commonly observed sedimentary structure is stratification. This is the process by which layers of sediment are built up over time and through Geological Process of heat and pressure become Sedimentary Rock. Things like, Sand ripples, mud cracks, rain drop impressions and salt crystal casts are all Sedimentary Structures that can be found in these layers. They provide information about specific processes that occurred while that particular layer of sediment was being deposited and can be very useful in determining environmental conditions. These structures are often mistaken as fossils but they are not.
What is a Rock ?
Most rocks are made ofminerals. However, all rocks are not the same. That is why rock Geology is so interesting and fun. Every rock has its own story.
Some Rocks are made of one Mineral like Quartz and others like Granite are made of three Minerals (Mica, Quartz and Feldspar)
Rocks can be put into three basic rock types igneous,metamorphic and sedimentary,. How a rock is formed determines which group it is placed in.
Igneous rock is one of the three main rock types rocks- coming from the Latin word (Ignis) meaning fire.
There are 2 types of Igneous rocks
Intrusive Igneous rock is formed through the melting, cooling and solidification of Magma. Molten Rock below the surface of the earths crust is called Magma. GRANITE is an IntrusiveIgneous Rockthat is made of 3 different minerals, (Mica, Quartz and Feldspar)
Extrusive Igneous Rock is the same melted rock (Magma) but when it gets pushed out on top of the earths crust and hits the open air it then becomes Lava. Basalt also called Trap rock is a prime example of an Extrusive Igneous Rock.
The 2 main things that act on these 2 forms of Igneous rock to have it form such different types of rock is air and water.
Metamorphic Rock
Metamorphic comes from Greek words meaning "change" and "form".
Heat and pressure can change many things. They can even change rocks. The name for rocks that have been changed by heat and pressure is metamorphic
Metamorphic rocks form deep in the earth where high temperature, great pressure, and chemical reactions cause one type of rock to change into another type of rock.
Metamorphic rock can be any of the 3 basic rock types.
These rock types can be affected or changed by the violence of Plate Tectonics which causes very high temps and pressure. A rise in Magma from deep in the earth can cause conditions where Metamorphism can occure.
Some examples of rocks changing
Sandstone becomes Quartzite
Shale becomes Slate
Limestone becomes Marble
Sedimentary Rock
Is rock formed from particles, called sediment, that are worn off other rocks by wind and water erosion. The particles are sand, silt, and clay that wash into valleys from surrounding hills. Sand has the largest particles while clay has the smallest. If there are a lot of pebbles mixed with the sand, it is called gravel. The sediment gets turned into rock by being buried and compacted by pressure from the weight above it. Another way it becomes rock is from being cemented together by material that has been dissolved in water. Often, both cementing and compaction take place together.
***Does any body know what rock is not a mineral?***
The only Rock that is NOT a Mineral is COAL. Coal is a Sedimentary Rock made by decaying Organic material.