Several important optical properties are applicable to minerals and gemstones from a scientific standpoint. Rockforming minerals and other mineralogy publications. Optical mineralogy and petrography serc carleton college. Mackenzie ws, guildord c 1980 atlas of rockforming minerals in thin section. Anhydrite grain showing a colour sequence covering seven orders. All practice, new vocabulary, analysis and synthesis. This is an activity that guides students through the study of rock forming minerals by testing the properties of 23 different mineral specimens listed. Along with the common rockforming minerals, we have included apatite, corundum, diamond, fluorite, topaz and talc to illustrate minerals used in mohs scale of hardness. The data, though the best now readily available, are in part subject to correction. Animated pdfs showing optical properties of minerals john brady.
For each specimen there is a hand sample which should help you with the mineral identification. Relief is a useful distinguishing property for the the igneous rock froming minerals. Learn to identify common rockforming and ore minerals on the basis of common physical. In optical mineralogy and petrography, a thin section or petrographic thin section is a laboratory preparation of a rock, mineral, soil, pottery, bones, or even metal sample for use with a polarizing petrographic microscope, electron microscope and electron microprobe. Sulfates gypsum, hydrous calcium common mineral, sulfate especially in limestone and shale. Properties of minerals earth science visionlearning. Each sheet has spaces to write physical and optical properties for each mineral as well as a crystal form. These properties are extremely useful for identifying a mineral. Mineral property sheets david hirsch, western washington univthis activity consists of a set of 69 mineral sheets to be used as part of a termlength set of labs. Most commonly, rock and mineral samples are prepared as thin.
Identification tables for common minerals in thin section john faithful, hunterian museum, university of glasgow. An investigation of the properties of rocks and minerals will use samples of multiple different rocks and minerals. Igneous rocks that crystallize slowly beneath the earth s surface, typically have visible individual minerals. Arc 1 focuses on learning about rocks and minerals and their properties. Common rockforming minerals university of auckland. Optical mineralogy mickey gunter, university of idaho. Most common rock forming minerals have a specific gravity of between 2 and 3. Except for quartz, all the minerals listed are actually mineral. The most widely used method for mineral type classification from a rock thin section is done by the observation of optical properties of a mineral in a polarized microscope rotation stage.
Hardness now try to answer the questions on page 5 of your note. Students will conduct online research, as well as participate in handson activities. Optical mineralogy is the study of minerals by measuring their optical properties. Styles and others published deer, howie and zussman, rock forming minerals. Extreme weathering can also produce a mineral really a rock named bauxite. The most common minerals in earths crust can often be identified in the field using basic physical properties such as color, shape, and hardness. There are almost 5000 known mineral species, yet the vast majority of rocks are formed from combinations of a few common minerals, referred to as rockforming minerals. Optical properties of common rock forming minerals 325. Relief is a useful distinguishing property for the the igneous rockfroming minerals. Special properties iceland spar, a form of the mineral calcite, produces double refraction. Geol209 properties of minerals in thin section youtube. It is pure or nearly pure silica and is hard and glassy mineral. Most common rockforming minerals have a specific gravity of between 2 and 3. In turn, those properties can give you clues about the chemicals that make up the minerals.
Sulphates, carbonates, phosphates and halides find, read and. Minerals definition, types, and identification department. Identifying sedimentary minerals is not as easy as igneous minerals because many sedimentary minerals are finegrained and have similar optical properties. The following descriptions include basic chemical and structural data and the properties used in macroscopically based identifications. New rock forming minerals publications from gsl rfm3c rock forming minerals, volume 3c. System and indices birefringence characteristically parallel, but mineral. A thin sliver of rock is cut from the sample with a diamond saw and ground optically flat. Also describes transmitted light petrography in the identification and familiarization with major rock forming minerals in grain mounts and thin section. These are specimens of minerals from the university of aucklands collection.
September 18, 2017 a revised version of the syllabus is now posted. I recommend you print the pdf version of this file and get started right away. Feldspars are relatively stable in the surface environment. Criddle aj, stanley cj eds 1986 the quantitative data file for ore minerals. Crystal form and system describes the external shape of crystal faces that. Guide to thin section microscopy extinction raith, raase, reinhardt january 2011 figure 4. A mineral is a naturally occurring substance which is usually solid, crystalline, stable at room temperature and inorganic. Although aluminium substitutes extensively for silicon in silicates consisting of feldspars and amphiboles, the substitution occurs only to a confined extent in most pyroxenes. In this study, the rockforming minerals are examined with the microscope and are either in the form of small grains or fragments or else in very thin slices. This note explains the properties of light and its interaction with mineral grains. Gems and minerals the ultimate rock video1989 laserdisc hd encode duration. Objectives university of nairobi personal websites. Physical properties of rock forming minerals objectives.
Even in such instances, the color range of a mineral can be a useful diagnostic property. Pdf deer, howie and zussman, rock forming minerals. This lesson will identify the different optical properties of minerals used in identification. The following group of charts has been assembled from sources as noted below. However, many of the rocks are primarily made up of minerals after the decomposition and consolidation along with other organic or inorganic substances. Pyroxene is a set of essential rock forming inosilicate minerals discovered in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. Optical properties of rocks and minerals the optical property of a mineral depends on how it interacts with light. In the center of this case, some special optical properties are displayed. Rockforming minerals geological society of glasgow. Optical properties of common rock forming minerals j. It is a type of phyllosilicate, exhibiting a twodimensional sheet or layer structure. Quartz is a common rock forming mineral, and resistant to both chemical and physical weathering. Accordingly, it is a common constituent of clastic sedimentary rocks. Page1 six common rockforming minerals the six minerals amphibole, feldspar, mica, olivine, pyroxene, and quartz are the most common rockforming minerals and are used as important tools in classifying rocks, particularly igneous rocks.
Description of the optical properties of each mineral includes those that are determined in planepolarized light ppl and those that are determined with crossed polars. Wellformed crystals are common, 1011, 21, thin to thick tabular 0001, with combinations of over forms noted, to 7 m. In this edition of introduction to the rockforming minerals, most of the commonly occurring minerals of igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks are discussed in terms of structure, chemistry, optical and other physical properties, distinguishing features and paragenesis. By contrast, some metallic minerals such as pyrite, native copper, and magnetite are more than twice as dense and thus have more than twice the specific gravity as quartz. I still go over the practice specimens in lab, but idwell much more on common rock forming minerals, the reasons for variability of mineral properties, and on crystal chemistry, crystal structure, and the origin and uses of minerals. Common rock forming minerals there are almost 3000 types of minerals, but only 8 of these minerals make up. Appendixa optical properties of common rockforming. Two important rock forming materials that are not minerals are major components of a few rocks. In addition, optical examination of mineral samples is typically required before. In many minerals, however, the color can vary over an immense range, mostly because of impurities.
Understand the difference between crystal faces and crystal cleavages 3. The context of a mineral is important, too some minerals can form under the same conditions, so you are likely to find them in the same rock, while others form under very different conditions and will. Pyroxenes have the general components is xysi,al2o6. Extrusive igneous rocks tend to cool much more rapidly, and the minerals grow quicker and can not get as. After completing this laboratory you should be able to. Recall several or the most common rock forming minerals.
Mica, any of a group of hydrous potassium, aluminum silicate mineral s. Charts for correlation of optical properties with chemical composition of some common rock forming minerals gboncn c. Mineral chemical groups and formulae for rock forming minerals. Stoiber distinguishing characteristics chemical xi. An important rockforming mineral under a wide range of. An introduction to the rockforming minerals geoscienceworld. This was necessary because the first day of class was cancelled. Calcite caco3 c 20012005 mineral data publishing, version 1 crystal data. Appendixa optical properties of common rockforming minerals. During a rock wall scavenger hunt, students begin to explore rocks in an. Free mineralogy books download ebooks online textbooks. Phosphatcs apatite, calcium widcly distributcd accesf1uoro, chloro phosphate sory mineral in the 3 rock classes. Click here for a pdf file of the lab manual chapter for second lab. August 28, 2017 for this course you will need to know the chemical formula of the common minerals as listed here.
Jings senior year thesis introduction to mineralogy science education video songs by local musicians. As this class deals with earth materials and processes, it is important that we gain. Objectives learn to examine minerals and to do tests for common properties learn to identify common rock forming and ore minerals on the basis of common physical properties. The study of minerals using optical techniques, principally employing a petrographie microscope, is most commonly undertaken to obtain information such as mineral identity, chemical composition and structural state, and growth and strain history. Both chemical composition and atomic structure characterize a mineral and determine its physical properties. Other rarer polymorphs of tio 2 are known including anatase, akaogiite, and brookite rutile has one of the highest refractive indices at visible wavelengths of any known crystal and also exhibits a particularly large birefringence and high dispersion. Josh reeves the global reality channel recommended for you. Rutile is a mineral composed primarily of titanium dioxide tio 2, and is the most common natural form of tio 2. The most important of these properties are listed below. In this edition of introduction to the rockforming minerals, most of the commonly.
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