Questions and Answers of Earth Materials Introduction To Mineralogy And Petrology

Give the chemical formula for fluorite and describe its most common crystal habit.
Which mineral is the main source of barium? Give its name and formula.
What is barite most commonly used for?
We described two lithium silicates. Give their names.
Give the names of three gem minerals that are commonly green?
Ruby and sapphire are gem varieties of which relatively common oxide? Give its name and formula.
Emerald is a highly prized variety of which rock-forming mineral? Give its name and formula.
Which rock-forming mineral, in its gem varieties, displays a very wide range of colors?
What are the main ages of human cultural evolution, and what Earth material characterizes each?
What has been the most commonly used building stone throughout history, and why?
What is the most commonly used construction material in large buildings today, and what Earth materials are used in its preparation?
Why are sand, gravel, and crushed stone such valuable natural resources?
Name three countries that are very large producers of iron ore.
Iron ore is the product of leaching and supergene enrichment of iron-formation assemblages. What is the geologic age of such iron-formations?
What three iron minerals make up the bulk of iron ore?
The clay mineral kaolinite is an alteration product of what primary rock-forming mineral?
Montmorillonite is also a clay mineral. This is the alteration product of what volcanic material?
Porphyry copper deposits are mined because of the presence of what two primary copper minerals?
These deposits may also contain one or two supergene copper minerals. Which are these?
Acid mine drainage (AMD) can be a serious environmental problem as a result of large piles of waste rock and tailing ponds. What is meant by AMD, and which mineral group is mainly responsible for
Which three countries have the largest-known reserves of lithium brines?
What elements are part of what is referred to as the rare earth elements (REEs)?
What radioactive element is commonly present in REE ores that makes their mining and mining waste disposal environmentally dangerous?
What is meant by cation exchange property as applied to zeolites? Give an example of a common commercial application.
A zeolite structure can lose all of its water but can regain it all as well when immersed in water after complete dehydration. How is this property used in commercial applications?
What is meant by the term molecular sieving?
What is meant by fossil fuel? Give the main types of fossil fuels.
Give the number of years the present reserves of each of the main types of fossil fuels are likely to last at current usage rates.
Why will environmental concerns become important as reserves of conventional fossil fuels dwindle?
Although nuclear energy is considered green, what serious environmental problems are associated with its use?
From where does geothermal power derive its energy?
How is geothermal power extracted from hot dry rocks?
How might you explore for hot rocks in nonvolcanic regions? What geologic conditions would be needed to create a suitable geothermal source in such a region?
Why do sediments in rift and pull-apart basins lack maturity?
What do all transport laws have in common?
Why do the rates of chemical reactions increase dramatically with increasing temperature?
Why can passive continental margins have thick sequences of sediments?
What would a fining upward sequence of sediments tell you about changes in sea level?
What are Milankovitch cycles, and how might they be recognized in a sequence of sedimentary rocks?
How might you use a turbidity current in a vertically dipping folded sedimentary rock to determine the original top?
How might you use cross-bedding in a vertically dipping folded sedimentary rock to determine the original top?
How might you use mud cracks in a vertically dipping folded sedimentary rock to determine the original top?
Why is glacial till so poorly sorted?
Why, if NaCl is more abundant than CaSO4 in seawater, is halite not more abundant than anhydrite (or gypsum) in evaporite deposits?
The faunal explosion at the beginning of the Cambrian produced many organisms that built hard parts of CaCO3, and limestone becomes common in the geologic record, whereas before that it is relatively
Although calcareous plankton can be found throughout the oceans, why is no calcareous ooze found on the deepest ocean floor?
What polymorph of CaCO3 is most commonly precipitated by organisms to build their hard parts and does this change after the sediment is changed to limestone?
What features characterize mature sediment?
If sediment is well sorted, what does this tell you about its grain-size distribution?
What are the typical weathering products of granite?
Soils commonly show various horizontal soil horizons. How do these various layers differ?
Phosphorites are mined for their content of what mineral? Give that mineral’s name and chemical formula.
Agates can be very aesthetically appealing and are commonly on exhibit in museums of natural history and for sale in rock and mineral shops. What is so appealing about them?
Halite is also known as table salt. What other major commercial uses does halite have?
What is different in the dolomite crystal structure as compared with that of calcite?
What is the chemical formula of dolomite?
What is the main commercial use of limestone or calcite?
Calcite and three other carbonates are isostructural. What does that mean, and which are the other three? What are their names and chemical formulas?
Kaolin is a major constituent of what commercially produced products?
Kaolinite can be pseudomorphous after what feldspar? Give the chemical formula of kaolinite.
What is the oxidation state of iron in goethite?
What is the chemical formula of goethite?
What is the crystal form of ice and how is it exhibited?
What is the crystallographic system of ice that forms normally under freezing conditions?
What distinguishes plagioclase in massif-type anorthosites from plagioclase in most other plutonic rocks?
What is a komatiite, and what textural evidence shows that it was derived from an olivine-rich liquid?
What importance is attached to the ubiquitous occurrence of basaltic inclusions in rhyolite and granite?
What can you conclude about the history of an andesite (or diorite) from the complex zoning patterns in its plagioclase phenocrysts?
What difference is there between volcanic rocks erupted on island arcs involving convergent oceanic plates and volcanic arcs developed on continental plates, and what is the likely cause of the
What are the main calcalkaline rocks erupted in the volcanic arc above subduction zones, and what are their plutonic equivalents?
What is carbonatite, and what economic mineral deposits are associated with it?
What is kimberlite, and why is it of economic interest?
What are some titanium-bearing minerals that form in alkaline rocks as a result of their high titanium content?
What are some titanium-bearing minerals that form in alkaline rocks as a result of their high titanium content?
What is inverted pigeonite, and how does it form?
What is a large igneous province, and what rock type characterizes such regions?
What is a large igneous province, and what rock type characterizes such regions?
Why are so many oceanic islands generated over hot spots capped with alkaline rocks, even though the main volcano-building period erupts tholeiitic rocks?
Why are so many oceanic islands generated over hot spots capped with alkaline rocks, even though the main volcano-building period erupts tholeiitic rocks?
How are sulfide ore deposits formed near midocean ridges?
How are sulfide ore deposits formed near midocean ridges?
How are sulfide ore deposits formed near midocean ridges?
Why are igneous rocks at midocean ridges so altered to hydrous minerals?
What are the main rocks in an ophiolite suite, and how are they formed?
What name would you give to a rock composed of 50% olivine, 25% orthopyroxene, and 25% clinopyroxene? Much of the Earth’s upper mantle is thought to have this composition.
What is the difference between a mode and a norm?
How does magma viscosity affect the shape of volcanoes?
Contrast the eruptive styles of Hawaiian, Strombolian, Vulcanian, Plinian, and Peléan volcanoes.
How do magma density and viscosity affect the shape of intrusive bodies?
How do intrusive igneous bodies make room for them selves?
Explain the difference in the rates at which the 143Nd/144Nd and 87Sr/86Sr ratios evolve in continental crust relative to the bulk Earth.
If magmas do not have excess heat, where does heat come from to cause melting of included blocks of country rock?
If plagioclase is neutrally buoyant in a basaltic magma, how can compaction of crystal mush lead to its concentration in the lower part of an igneous body?
You have been asked to walk out onto a newly crusted over lava lake in Hawaii 7.5 days (648 000 s) after the eruption. It is planned to bring in a helicopter with a large drilling rig as soon as the
Why does buoyant material segregate into regularly spaced domes when it begins to rise?
What determines the rate at which basaltic magma can escape from partially molten mantle peridotite?
What determines the grain size of an igneous rock?
Why are the viscosities of basaltic and rhyolitic magma so different?
Why do most calderas sink about 0.5 km?
Explain explosive volcanism in terms of the solubility of volatiles in magma.

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