Geo 101 All Units-28-39

FORMATION OF THE EARTH
 The Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old and is believed that it was
formed by accretion of small particles.
 The Earth has a layered structure. The center is a dense, hot core composed
mainly of iron and nickel .
 A thick mantle, composed mainly of solid rock, surrounds the core and contains
80 percent of the Earth’s volume.
 The crust is a thin surface also composed of rock.

STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH
GEOLOGIC TIME
 The earth is estimated to be 4.6 Billion Years old.
 Geologic time differs from the human perspective of time.
 Earth goes through cycles of much longer duration than the human
perspective of time.
 The geologic time scale is the calendar that geologists use to date past
events in Earth’s history.
 The Geological time scale is divided into Eons, Eras, Periods, and Epochs
and is identified primarily by the types of life that existed at the various
times.
 The two earliest eons, the Hadean and Archean, cover the first 2.5 billion
years of Earth history.
 Life originated during Archean time and with the passage of time the life
form evolved.
 Evolution was very gradual until the last 5 million years where many new
species evolved which were more complex than their ancestors.
The Geological Time
Scale
UNIT 2
MATTER AND MINERALS

ROCKS AND MINERALS
 A rock is any solid mass of mineral, or
mineral-like, matter that occurs
naturally as part of our planet.
 Most rocks, like the common rock

granite, occur as aggregates of several
different minerals.
 The term aggregate implies that the

minerals are joined in such a way that
their individual properties are retained.
 However, some rocks are composed

almost entirely of one mineral.
 A common example is the sedimentary

rock limestone, which consists of
impure masses of the mineral calcite.
WHAT IS A MINERAL
 A mineral is a naturally
occurring, inorganic
solid with a
characteristic chemical
composition and a
crystalline structure.
 Chemical composition
and crystalline structure
are the two most
important properties of
a mineral: They
distinguish any mineral
from all others.
WHAT ARE MINERALS
 Naturally occurring
 Minerals form by natural, geologic processes.
 Synthetic materials, meaning those produced in a laboratory or by human

intervention, are not considered minerals.
 Solid substance
 Only solid crystalline substances are considered minerals.
 Ice (frozen water) fits this criterion and is considered a mineral, whereas liquid
water and water vapor do not.
 The exception is mercury, which is found in its liquid form in nature.

WHAT ARE MINERALS
 Generally inorganic
 Minerals do not contain compounds of organic carbon.
 Organic carbon which is found in all living organisms bonds with hydrogen to form compounds.
 Inorganic carbon is formed when carbon combines with elements other than hydrogen.
 Thus coal is not a mineral because it contains organic carbon derived from plant remains.
 Orderly crystalline structure
 Minerals are crystalline substances, which means their atoms

are arranged in an orderly, repetitive manner
 This orderly packing of atoms is reflected in the regularly

shaped objects called crystals.
 To have a crystalline structure, a substance must be solid at at

Earth’s surface temperature and not in the liquid or gaseous
phase.
 Some naturally occurring solids, such as volcanic glass

(obsidian), lack a repetitive atomic structure and are not
considered minerals.
NaCl (Sodium Chloride)
HALITE
WHAT ARE MINERALS
 Can be represented by a chemical formula
 Most minerals are chemical compounds having compositions that can be expressed by a
chemical formula.
 For example, the common mineral quartz has the formula SiO2, which indicates that quartz
consists of silicon (Si) and oxygen (O) atoms in a ratio of one-to-two.
 This proportion of silicon to oxygen is true for any sample of pure quartz, regardless of its origin.
 However, the compositions of some minerals vary within specific, well-defined limits.
 This occurs because certain elements can substitute for others of similar size without changing
the mineral’s internal structure.
 An example is the mineral olivine in which either the element magnesium (Mg) or the element
iron (Fe) may occupy the same site in the crystal structure.
 Therefore, olivine’s formula, (Mg, Fe)2SiO4, expresses variability in the relative amounts of
magnesium and iron. However, the ratio of magnesium plus iron to silicon (Si) and oxygen (O)
remains fixed at 2:1:4.
ELEMENTS & ATOM
 An element cannot be broken into simpler

particles by ordinary chemical processes.
 Most common minerals consist of a small

number—usually two to five of different
chemical elements
ROCKS – MINERALS – ELEMNTS - ATOMS

COMMON ELEMENTS
 A total of 91 elements occur naturally in the Earth’s crust.

However, eight elements make up more than 98 percent of
the earth’s crust. These elements are
 Oxygen,
 Silicon,
 Aluminum,
 Iron,
 Calcium,
 Magnesium,
 Potassium and
 Sodium

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FORMATION OF THE EARTH

 The crust is a thin surface also composed of rock.

MATTER AND MINERALS

 Most rocks, like the common rock

 The term aggregate implies that the

 However, some rocks are composed

 A common example is the sedimentary

 Minerals form by natural, geologic processes.

 Synthetic materials, meaning those produced in a laboratory or by human

 Only solid crystalline substances are considered minerals.

 The exception is mercury, which is found in its liquid form in nature.

 Minerals do not contain compounds of organic carbon.

 Orderly crystalline structure

 Minerals are crystalline substances, which means their atoms

 This orderly packing of atoms is reflected in the regularly

 To have a crystalline structure, a substance must be solid at at

 Some naturally occurring solids, such as volcanic glass

 An element cannot be broken into simpler

 Most common minerals consist of a small

ROCKS – MINERALS – ELEMNTS - ATOMS

 A total of 91 elements occur naturally in the Earth’s crust.

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