Minerals and Rocks

Earth’s Planetary Structure

Objectives
- Compare the relative size and material properties of
Earth’s core, mantle, and crust.
- Relate the principal differences between continental and
oceanic crust.
- Contrast the lithosphere with the asthenosphere.
- Differentiate between minerals and rocks.
- Know the different types of rocks.
- Explain the meaning of “rock cycle”.
- Understand the relationship between the theories of
continental drift and plate tectonics.
- Discuss the theory of plate tectonics.
Earth’s Planetary Structure
a. Core
- The Earth’s innermost section.
- Contains 1/3 of the Earth’s mass.
- Radius of 3360 kilometers (2100 mi).
- Under enormous pressure.
- Composed primarily of “iron and nickel”
2 Distinct Sections:
1. Inner Core
2. Outer core
Inner Core
- Radius of 960 kilometers (6000 mi).
- Density of 13 g/cm³ (0.5 lbs/in³)
- Solid layer consists of solid iron and nickel.
- Temperatures are estimated to be 4800°C.
The extreme pressure elevated the melting
temperature to a value that lies above the rock’s
actual temperature, leaving the material in solid
state.
Outer core
- Radius of 2400 kilometer (1500 mi).
- Density of 10 g/cm³ (0.4 lbs/in³)
- Liquid layer consists of “molten iron and nickel”.
The actual temperature of a rock material exceeds
that material’s pressure that altered melting
temperature thus a rock in the inner core is molten.
• Why is the Earth’s inner core solid and the outer
core liquid?
Melting temperature of rock matter increases with
pressure, and pressure increases with depth
beneath the Earth’s surface. Existing rocks under
great pressure needs to achieve a higher
temperature to melt than rocks at a lower pressure
does.
 Upper mantle
Asthenosphere
Plastic mobile layer

Lower mantle
Mesosphere
Semi-solid layer
b. Mantle
- The Earth’s middle layer.
- Radius of 2885 kilometers (1800 mi)
- Density of 3.3-5.5 g/cm³ (0.12 lbs/in³
- Representing 2/3 or 80% of the Earth.
- Solid layer consists of silicate rocks (silicon and
oxygen) with significant amounts of iron and
magnesium.
Heat from decaying radioactive materials inside the
Earth drives “thermal convection currents” that
exist in much of the mantle.
Mohorovicic discontinuity or
Moho
- Is an interference between the
mantle and the overlying
crust.
- is the boundary between the
crust and the mantle. The red
line in the diagram shows its
location. In geology the word
"discontinuity" is used for a
surface at which seismic
waves change velocity.
- Radius of 8 kilometers (5 mi)
2 Distinct Sections of the Mantle
1. Mesosphere
2. Asthenosphere
Mesosphere
- the region under the
lithosphere and the
asthenosphere, but above the
outer core.
- depth of 660 kilometers (410
mi)
- A solid layer.
• Asthenosphere
- layer below the rigid
lithosphere.
- the part of the mantle that
flows and moves the
plates of the Earth.
- A mobile plastic layer.
- depth of about 410
kilometers (255 miles).
c. Crust
- The Earth’s solid exterior.
- represents 1% of the Earth’s planetary mass.
- Composed of great variety of rock types that respond in
diverse ways and at varying rates to surface processes.
- Compose of large amount of silicon and aluminum.
- The only surface of the Earth where scientists have direct
knowledge.
- Outermost layer of solid Earth comprises the ocean floor and
the continents.
- Density of 2.7-3.0 g/cm³ (0.10-0.11 lbs/in³)
- Behaves in a more rigid and brittle manner (upper 10-15
kilometers (6-9 mi).
- Responds to stress by; fracturing, crumpling, or warping.
 2 Distinct Sections
1. Continental
2. Oceanic
- Are distinguished by their location, thickness, and
composition.
a. Continental
- Comprises the major landmasses on Earth that
are exposed to the atmosphere.
- Composed of granite and basalt.
- About 40% of Earth's surface is currently
occupied by continental crust. It makes up about
70% of the volume of Earth's crust.
- Average density: 2.7 g/cm³
b. Oceanic
- the outermost layer of Earth's lithosphere that
is found under the oceans and formed at
spreading centers on oceanic ridges, which
occur at divergent plate boundaries.
- Composed of basalt.
- Average density of 3.0g/cm
Lithosphere
- Refers to the brittle outer shell of Earth, including
the crust and the rigid, uppermost layer of the
mantle.
- With about 100 kilometers (60 mi) thickness.
• Earth’s crust is composed of various types of
rocks and minerals. A basic understanding of
rocks requires us to first consider minerals.
Rocks – is a consolidated aggregate of various
types of minerals or a consolidated aggregate of
multiple individual species (grains of the same kind
of minerals.
- Fundamental building materials in the
lithosphere.
- They are lifted, pushed down, and deformed by
large-scale tectonic forces originating from the
lower mantle and asthenosphere.
Bedrock – is a mass of consolidated rock that has
not been weathered.
Regolith – is a bedrock that may be exposed at the
surface of the Earth or it may be overlain by a cover
of broken and decomposed rock fragments.
Out crop – is a mass of exposed bedrock.
Classification According to Form
1. Igneous rock
- - Are formed by fire from melted rock that has
cooled and solidified.
- Molten rock (magma)
- Composed mainly of “silicate materials” (silica and
oxygen).
Magma – is a molten rock generated by partial
melting of rocks in the Earth’s mantle and in the
lower crust.
Lava –are molten rocks that reaches the
surface/spewed out during volcanic eruption.
Two Major Categories
A] Extrusive / Volcanic - Ig rocks that form when
molten rocks solidifies at the surface. (lava).
(undergoes considilation)
B] Intrusive / Plutonic – Ig rocks that loses its
mobility before reaching the surface and eventually
crystallizes deep below the surface. (magma)
(crystalization)
• Texture – a classification in terms of their
mineral composition and the size of constituent
mineral.
Types:
Glassy texture (produced by very rapid cooling;
pumice, a frothy, glassy mass)
Fine-grained texture (produced when lava
cooled quickly on or near Earth’s surface;
vesicles left by gas bubbles that formed as the
lava solidifies.
Coarse-grained texture (produced when magma
cools slowly at depth.
Chemical Composition
1. Felsic – light colored and light weight minerals
especially silicon and aluminum.
2. Mafic – rich in heavy minerals such as
compounds of magnesium and iron.
Sedimentary rocks
- Are derived from sediment, which is a loose
accumulation of unconsolidated fragments.
Process:
After fragments accumulate (often in horizontal
layers) pressure form the addition of more material
above compacts the sediment, expelling water and
reducing pore space.
Cementation occurs when silica, calcium carbonate,
or iron oxide bonds the fragments together.
Lithification (compaction and cementation
transform into solid coherent layers of rocks.
Three Major Categories
1. Clastic SR
- From Latin: clastus, broken.
- Range from clay to silt and sand, to gravel
- Fragments larger than 2.0 mm (granules, pebbles,
cobbles and boulders).
- Clast consists of fragments of previously existing
rocks, shells, bones that were deposited on a
river bed, beach, lake bottom and the ocean floor.
Ex: conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and slate.
2. Organic SR
- Lithify from the remains of organisms, both plants
and animals.
Ex: Coal is created by accumulation and compaction
of partially decayed vegetation in acidic swampy
environments where water saturated ground
prevents oxidation and complete decay of the
organic matter.
Developed 300-354 million years ago during the
interval of geologic time known as “Mississippian
and Pennsylvanian” periods.
3. Chemical precipitate SR
- These are dissolved minerals in oceans and lake
water that reach saturation and begin to
precipitate and build up as a deposit on the sea
or lake bottom.
Ex: Limestone, dolomite, calcium carbonate
Stratification – a process where sediments
accumulate in distinct layers or strata, that
remains visible after lithification.
Strata/beds
- most characteristic feature:
- Provides geologist with the evidence for
deciphering past environments.
Bedding plane – is the boundary between two
sedimentary layers that represent separate
depositional events.
3. Metamorphic rocks
- Means change in form and composition.
- Enormous heat and pressure deep on the Earth’s
crust can alter an existing rock into a new rock type
that is “completely different” from the original by
recrystallizing the minerals without creating molten
rock matter.
- The resulting metamorphic rock are typically
harder, more compact, have a reoriented crystalline
structure, and more resistant to weathering.
Types based on Presence or absence of platy
surface and wavy alignments.
1. Foliated MR – presence of platy surface and
wavy alignments of light and dark minerals that
form during metamorphism.
2. Non-foliated MR- absence of platy surface and
wavy alignments of light and dark minerals that
form during metamorphism
Metamorphism – is the process by which rocks are
changed in composition, texture, or structure by
extreme heat and pressure.
Metamorphic rocks that were formed under low
pressure and temperature conditions undergo a
second metamorphic event in which they are
exposed to higher pressures and temperatures.
A. During metamorphism, applied stress (arrows) can
lead an alignment of minerals known as foliation
(layered rocks under moderate pressure).
B. At greater pressure, metamorphism may realign
minerals perpendicular to the applied stress, creating
thin foliation layers and a platy structure.
C. With even greater pressure, broader foliation layers
may develop as wavy bands of light and dark minerals.
Many rocks do not remain in their original form
indefinitely but instead, over a long period of time
undergo process of transformation.

The Rock Cycle – is a conceptual model for

understanding processes that generate, alter,
transport, and deposit mineral materials to
produce different kind of rocks.
The term “cycle” emphasizes that existing rocks supply the
minerals to make new and sometimes very different rocks.
Whole new existing rocks can be “recycled” to form new
rocks.
Factors that Affect Rock Transformation
1. Cooling (crystallization and consolidation)
2. Weathering (transportation and deposition)
3. Lithification (compaction and cementation)
4. Metamorphism (recrystallization)
5. Melting (intense heat and pressure)