Minerals, Igneous, Metamorphic, Sedimentary Rocks, The rock cycle -- Lisa Spagnuolo

A rock is made up of minerals and is a natural occurring solid. Rocks are generally classified according to several characteristics such as chemical and mineral composition, the constituent of particles, the texture and permeability. There are three major groups of rocks: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous. Each one is classified differently in some of the characteristics above. All the rocks are made from different substances and in different ways. However, all rocks given thousands of years can be every type of rock there is, as we learned in the rock cycle, and during The Rock Cycle Game.  Like our rock studies we did similar things on minerals. During our lego mineral lab we made different compositions of minerals, based on their chemical formula. We also sorted and classified the minerals based on  color, hardness, streak, and luster. Through all of this we learned a lot about rocks, the rock cycle, and minerals.

This diagram shows the initial concept of this unit; the rock cycle.http://content.blackgold.ca/ict/Division4/Science/Div.%204/changingearth/images/rock_cycle_800x609.jpg

Have you ever considered what things are made up of? For example, clothes. Clothes are made up of fabric, fabric is made up of thread, thread is made up of cotton, and so on. Well a similar instance also happens on Earth. The Earth is made up of rocks, rocks are made up of minerals, minerals are made up of compounds, compounds are made up of elements, elements are made up of atoms and atoms are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons.

http://www.123rf.com/photo_12761145_earth-globe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DirkvdM_rocks.jpg http://skywalker.cochise.edu/wellerr/VGM/mineral-hall.htmhttp
http://mail.colonial.net/~hkaiter/human_elements_star.htmhttp://www.wallpapervortex.com/ipad-wallpaper-21317_funny_funny_protons_neutrons_electrons.html

Minerals are mistaken for rocks all the time, but how can we tell them apart? Minerals have five special characteristics that make them minerals. They have to be naturally occurring, meaning they were never man-made. Minerals have to be inorganic, meaning that the material cannot have been made from another living thing. They have to be solid, with a definite shape and volume. Minerals have to have a crystal structure: the on going pattern of a mineral’s particles that form a solid, called a crystal. And lastly a mineral has to have a definite chemical composition which means that a mineral always contains certain elements in definite proportions. Some examples of minerals are halite, pyrite, and gold. Each mineral has its own chemical formula also. Gold is Au, halite is NaCI, and pyrite is FeS2. (The pictures below from left to right are gold, halite, and pyrite)

http://enb150-mrd-2012.blogspot.com/2012/10/rocks-and-minerals-lab-mineral-pyrite.html
http://www.ezee-breathe.com/rock_salt__halite.htm  http://www.mii.org/Minerals/photogold.html

Igneous rock is formed from magma or lava cooling and crystallizing. The difference between magma and lava is that magma is molten rock inside the Earth, while lava is molten rock outside the Earth, and igneous rock can form from both, in two different ways, either intrusive like granite or extrusive like basalt. Intrusive igneous rock is rock that is formed on the inside of the Earth, it is formed when magma underneath the Earth’s surface hardens. Extrusive igneous rock is the opposite, it is igneous rock formed on the surface of the Earth, it is formed when hot lava that has erupted on Earth’s surface cools and crystallizes. (The pictures below from left to right are basalt and granite)

      

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/images/pglossary/basalt.php http://geology.com/rocks/igneous-rocks.shtml


Metamorphic rocks form from the pressure deep beneath the Earth’s surface, which can turn any rock into a metamorphic rock. Metamorphic rocks can form either foliated or non-foliated. If a metamorphic rock is foliated like slate it means that its grains are arranged in neat, organized parallel bands or layers. If a metamorphic rock is non-foliated like marble it means that its grains are randomly arranged. (The pictures below from left to right are a foliated metamorphic rock and a non-foliated metamorphic rock.)

http://skywalker.cochise.edu/wellerr/rocks/mtrx/gneissL.htm http://geology.com/rocks/metamorphic-rocks.shtml

Little pieces of Earth get eroded and broken away by water or wind. These little pieces of Earth are washed downstream where they settle at the bottom of rivers, oceans, and lakes or deposited somewhere else. Eventually more erosion and deposition happens and layer after layer the pieces compact and cement together to form sedimentary rock. There are three different types of sedimentary rock that form from a cycle similar to this, these types of rock are clastic, chemical, and organic. Clastic sedimentary rock, like shale or sandstone forms when fragments of other rocks are combined and compact together to form a new sedimentary rock. Organic sedimentary rock, like coal form from the remains of plants and animals compact and cemented together. And chemical sedimentary rock, like limestone form when crystallized minerals dissolve in a solution get compacted together. (The pictures below from left to right are clastic, chemical, and organic sedimentary rock.)

http://geology.com/rocks/sedimentary-rocks.shtml    http://geology.com/rocks/sedimentary-rocks.shtml http://geology.com/rocks/sedimentary-rocks.shtml

This diagram below shows how each metamorphic, igneous, and sedimentary rock form.


http://yischemistry.pbworks.com/f/1303106023/rock_cycle.jpg

Over thousands of years a rock can go through quite a journey, and turn into every and any rock. This process is called the rock cycle. Lets say you start your rock life as magma, and erupt from a volcano and you crystalize into igneous rock. Then once your igneous rock you can either get subducted into a trench and turn into magma again, be part of two converging plates and get turned into metamorphic rock, or get weathered and eroded into sediments. If you were magma you would turn into an igneous rock again but if your sentiments you would get carried in a river and get deposited and buried by more sediments to turn into a sedimentary rock. Once you're a sedimentary rock you can either weather and erode back into sediments, subduct back into the mantle where you will get turned into lava again, or get compacted by two converging plates and turn you into metamorphic rock. If you are metamorphic rock then you can either weather and erode back to sediments or subduct into a trench where you will become magma again, and start the cycle differently and new.

https://www.e-education.psu.edu/earth530/book/export/html/1621

In class we played the brilliant game made by Btags known as The Rock Cycle Game. In this game we randomly went through a daily thousand years of a rocks life. We got turned into many different types of rocks and learned how it is possible to do so. Afterwards, we made a comic strip of our rocks life to illustrate and narrate how a rock goes through its cycle.

Lava and Volcanoes by Victor Li 1/31/13

Volcano - An opening in the earth's crust through which molten lava, ash, and gases are ejected. That, is a dictionary definition, but there is much more to these geologic features then just that. There are three types of volcanoes -- shield, cinder cone, and composite.
In class, we learned about many of these topics. To aid is in learning about the many rocks that come from volcanoes, we did a lab on different kinds of rocks. We described and sketched each different rock around the room, and inferred about the viscosity, temperature, and explosion type. Using a chart about different volcanoes and the properties of rocks that come from them, we could also guess what kind of volcano the rocks came from.
A shield volcano is an area where lava flows from quiet eruptions, gradually building up a mountain. These are broad mountains, increasing in height over a long distance. These volcanoes form on hotspots in the mantle, where hotter lava rises and burns through the crust. A shield volcano you'll find in the real world is Mauna Loa, which makes up one of the islands of Hawaii.

(http://rhynotnt64.webs.com/Mauna%20Loa.jpg)

Next up is cinder cone. These volcanoes form from cinders erupting from a volcanic vent, piling up around it. This forms a cone shaped hill, a cinder volcano. These volcanoes have explosive eruptions, and the lava coming out isn't as hot. 

(http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/Photoglossary/30424305-084_med.JPG)

Finally, there are composite volcanoes. These have alternating layers of ash, cinders, bombs, and lava flows. They erupt both quietly and explosively. They are tall and cone shaped. A famous example of a composite volcano is Mt. St. Helens in Washington.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Sthelens1.jpg/300px-Sthelens1.jpg)

There are also rift or fissure eruptions. These are eruptions that happen when two tectonic plates are spreading apart. When they pull apart, cracks form in between them. Magma erupts through the cracks onto the surface. 

(http://wisconsingeologicalsurvey.org/geology/images/continental_rift.jpg)

http://youtu.be/WwBVG0Si7rs?t=2m28s

This is a fissure eruption captured on video.

Pillow basalts are rocks that have erupted that have a distinct pillow shape. They usually form underwater. The contact of the lava and water forms the shape. They vary and can be up to several meters in size. 

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Pillow_basalt_crop_l.jpg)

http://youtu.be/xsJn8izcKtg?t=1m13s

This is a video of pillow basalts forming underwater.

There are also other types of rocks such as columnar basalts, obsidian, bombs, and pumice.

Columnar basalts form from thick lava flows cooling quickly. When they cool, they form contraction forces, and the lava starts to flow vertically down. The flow forms rocks that look like columns, when flowing downwards.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Boyabat.jpg)

Pumice is very vesicular, which is why there are so many holes in the rock. It forms when highly pressured rock comes out of an explosive volcano. It was under high pressure before, but as it comes out it depressurizes. This combined with the cooling of the rock forms the bubbles and the rock, Pumice. 

(http://geology.com/rocks/pictures/pumice.jpg)

Bombs are round shaped rocks that also form from explosive eruptions. When a blob of lava erupts out of a volcano. As they fall down, the blob begins to cool into a rock. They are cooled as they fall to the ground as bombs. There are many variants of bombs. The different variants are related to how these blobs fall.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/VolcanicBombMojaveDesert.JPG)

Obsidian is an glassy rock formed from the rapid cooling of thick lava with high silica content. When this lava flows, if it cools rapidly, obsidian will form. There are no crystals in obsidian.

(http://geology.com/rocks/pictures/obsidian-380.jpg)

These rocks come from either explosive or quiet eruptions, but you may wonder, why are some eruptions explosive and why are some quiet? It's connected with the viscosity of the magma. When magma is more viscous there is more silica, and it is a higher temperature. At shield volcanoes such as in the Hawaiian Islands, there is low silica content, so the lava erupting is much more "runny" and thin. When there is higher silica content, the pressure needed for the volcano to erupt is greater, because of its thickness. Shield volcanoes tend to have lower silica content because of the temperature of the magma. It only rises and burns through the crust because of its heat. Other volcanoes mostly form near subduction zones, where the lava is cooler and has a higher silica content. These composite and cinder-cone volcanoes will have more explosive eruptions. 

Aa and Pahoehoe are two types of rocks formed by quiet eruptions. Although the eruption is quiet, it still forms different rocks, and they can also come from the same volcano. Pahoehoe is fast moving hot lava before it cools. As it cools it looks like rope or wrinkles. Aa is formed from slower moving cooler lava. When Aa cools, it looks very jagged and rough. The temperature of the lava determined the different kinds of rocks created when cooled. 

Aa

(http://www.geokem.com/images/scans/Hawaii-Aa.jpg)

Pahoehoe

(http://www.livingwilderness.com/hawaii/hawaii-pahoehoe-flow.jpg)

Yellowstone National Park has the worlds most diverse collection of geothermal features in the world. These mudpots, fumaroles, hot springs, and geysers didn't just randomly choose to all form in one area though, there is a reason for it. Yellowstone is located right on top of a hotspot. This is an area where extremely hot magma rises through the mantle to burn through the crust. Because of the magma underneath Yellowstone, when water from rain or snow melt seeps into the ground, it may pick up minerals and be heated from below. The different physical features of the ground, and the amount of water create one of the four geothermal features. 

(http://www.virtualuppermantle.info/images1/Yellowstone/600px_Diagram-Yellowstone_Caldera.jpg)

These four features are similar in many ways but there are key differences that define them.

When thinking of a geyser, picture an upside down ice cream cone in the ground. It has a small opening at the top, and is wider at the bottom. When water seeps down into one of these areas, it gets heated at the bottom. As it gets heated more and more, it begins to build up pressure. When enough pressure builds up, it will release at through the top and spew out water everywhere. 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWrklFuYnb0)

Fumaroles and geysers aren't very different. They have the same overall structure but the key difference is that in fumaroles, there is less water. When the water that is there is heated, it becomes too hot and turns into steam, and the steam emits from the opening.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYCtUfKkRJs)

Hot springs aren't too far from those two either. The difference with this feature is that the opening isn't small, it's wide. The wider opening doesn't allow pressure to build up, so the water that is in a hot spring just ends up being heated.

(http://whatsup.lixlink.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/morning_glory_pool.jpg)

Finally, we have mud pots. These form when rain or melt water mix with clay being heated by the rocks underneath them. When these two mix, they will create mud. The mud is still sitting on top of the rocks being heated by the magma, so the mud pots will bubble.

(http://castle.eiu.edu/~wow/classes/fa09/Yellowstone/yel_mudpot.jpg)

Atoms, Compounds, Mixtures, Elements

Everything in this world is made up of something smaller. For instance, the Earth is made up of rocks, which are made up of minerals, which are made up of compounds and elements, which are made-up of molecules and atoms, which are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. It is like a food chain.

http://chemistrylab.asia/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/agfhej.gif

The past few days we have been learning about these different things. First, Atoms. Atoms are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons and make up bigger things. Atoms make up most things in the world. So a pencil, a piece of paper, and table salt for example are all made up of many atoms that you cannot see. It is the tiniest bit of a chemical element. Atoms of different elements have a different charge therefore they come together to form bigger things. Protons have a positive charge, neutrons don't have a charge, and electrons have a negative charge. This is what holds atoms together. Every element has a certain amount of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Atoms make elements. One or more atoms of the same element are what forms elements. For example, some gold atoms chemically bonded together makes gold (element). Without atoms, there would not be elements.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Stylised_Lithium_Atom.png/200px-Stylised_Lithium_Atom.png

http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/laser1.jpg

Elements are several of the same type of atom chemically joined together. Chemically joined together means that the atoms connect to each other, whereas when atoms are physically joined, this means they are just put together and can be separated manually. A salad is physically joined. Example of elements are gold, iron, and oxygen. When different elements chemically join together they form compounds but when the same element form together it forms molecules.

http://www.ptable.com/Images/periodic%20table.png

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks3/science/images/sphere_atoms.gif

Molecules are made up of many atoms but are not compounds because they are made up of atoms of the same element. For example, if multiple oxygen atoms are chemically joined together, this would be a molecule. But if oxygen and hydrogen are chemically joined together, that would be a compound. When two or more atoms are joined together, it forms a molecule. Molecules form compounds. When two or more molecules chemically join each other, you get a compound.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy4zTPlG2vRO8vhz6fgfyQD1nOYJWKBA-JN8V70OsNVTVwceWCSbXfmnGgL5yOqngNABHWkJDE8uaixnLD2PAl72kWQH8gvQRCLJaqWho1aEwGVuJ7zLNSmaU_O9ulGMLJUolwwtwcrj8/s1600/molecules.jpg

Compounds are made of molecules which are made of atoms. When molecules or atoms of a different element chemically join together, you get a compound. Examples of compounds are, salt, water, and sugar. These three things are made of chemically mixed molecules. Several different type of molecules makes a compound.

http://wiki.district87.org/images/9/91/Compounds.jpg

http://www.chemistryland.com/ElementarySchool/BuildingBlocks/carbohydratesExamples.jpg


Minerals make up rocks and are made up of atoms, elements, and compounds. To be classified as a mineral, it must be naturally occurring, inorganic, solid, definite chemical composition, and definite crystal structure. If it does not have those traits, then it is not a mineral. This means ice is a mineral and water is not because water is not solid and does not have a definite crystal structure. Ice has the 5 traits therefore it is a mineral. Minerals form from evaporation of water, cooling and crystalizing of lava, and hot water rising and cooling.

http://www.sos.mo.gov/symbols/State-Mineral.jpg

Mixtures are not chemically joined; they are physically joined. This means that a mixture can be physically taken apart. For example, salt water is a mixture because if you boil it, the salt and the water will separate. Two or more atoms that are mixed together and are not combined are mixtures. Salad, salsa, and cinnamon sugar are all examples of mixtures.

http://www.elmhurst.edu/~ksagarin/color/mixture.gif

http://img4-3.realsimple.timeinc.net/images/0911/decoder-salt-water_300.jpg

Rocks. Rocks are made up of minerals and crystals. By definition, rocks are the solid material that make up the surface of the Earth and other planets. They are hard and are a mixture meaning that the elements or compounds are only physically together, not chemically. They can be physically broken apart. Rocks are all over the world and ultimately are made up of neutrons, electrons, and protons which make up a lot of things. There are three types of rocks: igneous formed from cooling and crystalizing of magma; metamorphic rock formed from heat and pressure inside earth; and sedimentary rock formed from deposition, compaction, and cementation of sediments.

http://www.rocksforkids.com/images/rocks%200906%20Huntsville23.jpg

http://www.fi.edu/fellows/fellow1/oct98/expert/graphics/ROCKMAP.GIF


Many things in this world are made up of things much smaller.