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Lithosphere
Earth's crust and mantle, tectonic plates
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Asthenosphere
ductile, molten underneath lithosphere
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Biosphere
global biological system, The part of the earth and its atmosphere in which living organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life
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Hydrosphere
- the liquid water component of the earth,
- covers about 70% of the surface of the Earth
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Atmosphere
the layer of gases surrounding the earth
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Mineral
any naturally formed solid substance having a reasonably definite chemical structure, distinctive properties that reflect its composition and regular atomic structure
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Rock identification characteristics
- Hardness - Mohs scale
- Cleavage - pattern of breakage
- Density - mass volume per unit
- Unique crystallized structure
- iron will darken, aluminum & silica lighten
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Earth materials
circa 75% of the weight of Earth’s crust is composed of oxygen and silicon
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Quartz
SiO2 – resistant to weathering, will be one of the older rocks
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Feldspar
most common, 60% of crust weight – aluminosilicates (A, Si, O) – good cleavage
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Mica
extreme plane cleavage – includes muscovite (light) and biotite (dark)
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Pyroxene and Amphibole
silicates of Al, Ca, Mg, Fe – usually black to dark green
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Olivine
silicates of Fe, Mg, isolated silicates, olive green color, weathers easily
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Garnet
aluminosilicates of Fe, Mg, Ca, Mn, red, brown and yellow
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Calcite & Argonite
CaCo3 –main constituent of limestone and marble, important biological minerals
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Halite
NaCl (salt) cleaves to cues, an evaporite
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Gypsum
soft hydrous calcium sulfate
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Galena
PoS (lead sulfide) – dense, cube cleavage
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