Minerals and Rocks Unit Study Guide

Multiple Choice

List layers E, D, C, and B in order from oldest to youngest.

•  E, D, C, B

•   B, C, D, E

• C, E, D, B

• D, C, B, E

Multiple Choice

A mineral with a hardness of 6 will scratch any mineral with a hardness ________________.

• less than 6.

• greater than 6.

• greater than 6.5.

•  less than a diamond.

Multiple Choice

During the rock cycle, a collision between two continental plates could force one plate down toward the heat of the mantle, producing

• coarse-grained rock.

• metamorphic rock.

• igneous rock.

• sedimentary rock.

Multiple Choice

The Law of Superposition would lead us to choose which of the following layers as the oldest?

• A

• B

• F

• All three layers

Multiple Choice

If layer C is sedimentary rock and layer G is igneous rock, which would be more likely to contain fossils?

• Layer C, because fossils would be preserved.

•  Layer G, because fossils would be destroyed.

• Layer C, because it is older.

• Layer G, because it is older.

Multiple Choice

List the following minerals in order of decreasing hardness: apatite, calcite, corundum, feldspar, and talc.

• apatite, calcite, corundum, feldspar, and talc.

• talc, feldspar, corundum, calcite, and apatite.

• talc, calcite, apatite, feldspar, and corundum.

• corundum, feldspar, apatite, calcite and talc.

Multiple Choice

If an unknown mineral has a hardness between 5 and 9, what could you do to the mineral to find out more about its hardness?

• Try scratching it with fluorite, calcite, and gypsum.

•  Try scratching it with feldspar, quartz, and topaz.

• Try scratching it with talc and diamond.

• Try scratching it with apatite, fluorite, and calcite.

Multiple Choice

What would you expect to happen if you rubbed a mineral of hardness 7.5 against a piece of quartz?

• Quartz would be scratched.

• The mineral of hardness 7.5 would be scratched.

• Neither the mineral nor the quartz would be scratched.

• Both the mineral and the quartz would be scratched. 

Multiple Choice

What would happen if you rubbed a piece of fluorite against a piece of feldspar?

• feldspar would be scratched, fluorite would not.

•  fluorite would be scratched, feldspar would not.

•   neither fluorite nor feldspar would be scratched.

• both fluorite and feldspar would be scratched.

Multiple Choice

Coal is an example of a(an) ____________________ rock, a sedimentary rock that forms where thick layers of plant and animal remains are deposited.

• organic

• inorganic

• clastic

• extrusive

Multiple Choice

 Dissolved minerals and particles of sediment stick together to form sedimentary rock in a process called ____________________.

• cementation

• deposition

• metamorphism

• melting and cooling

Multiple Choice

 The splitting of a mineral along flat surfaces is a property called ____________________.

• hardness

• cleavage

• luster

• density

Multiple Choice

Which minerals in the table will scratch quartz?

• talc, gypsum and calcite.

• fluorite, apatite and feldspar.

•  topaz, corundum and diamond.

• diamond only.

Multiple Choice

Erosion on a mountain range that was pushed up as a result of two continental plates colliding will lead to the formation of

• igneous rock.

• metamorphic rock.

• magma.

• sedimentary rock.

Multiple Choice

What step in the rock cycle would be required to change granite into sandstone?

• Granite particles settle on the ocean floor.

• Lava flows melt the granite sediment.

• Pieces of the granite melt when they return to the mantle by subduction.

• Magma hardens into granite sediment.

Multiple Choice

A series of processes on Earth’s surface and in the crust and mantle that slowly changes rocks from one kind to another is called

• erosion

• crystallization

• the rock cycle

• evaporation

Multiple Choice

The heat that changes a rock into metamorphic rock comes from

• the heat of the mantle

• the sun

• movements in the crust

• chemical rocks in the crust

Multiple Choice

Heat and pressure deep beneath Earth’s surface can change any rock into

• chemical rock

• gemstones

• metamorphic rock

• sedimentary rock

Multiple Choice

Chalk formed from sediments made of skeletons of microscopic living things in the ocean must be a(an)

• clastic rock

• organic rock

• chemical rock

• igneous rock

Multiple Choice

The sedimentary rock formed when water deposits tiny particles of clay in very thin, flat layers is called

• gypsum

• shale

• limestone

• calcite

Multiple Choice

The process in which dissolved minerals crystallize and glue particles of sediment together is

• compaction

• cementation

• depostion

• erosion

Multiple Choice

The process by which sediment settles out of the water or wind carrying it is

• compaction

• cementation

• deposition

• erosion

Multiple Choice

The most abundant intrusive rock in the continental crust is

• slate

• granite

• flint

• quartzite

Multiple Choice

Igneous rock that formed from lava that erupted onto Earth’s surface is called

• extrusive rock

• intrusive rock

• clastic rock

• sedimentary rock

Multiple Choice

Where does most metamorphic rock form?

• at the surface

• just below the surface

• in ocean waters

• deep waters

Multiple Choice

Rock that forms from the cooling of magma below the surface or lava at the surface is called

• sedimentary rock

• metamorphic rock

• igneous rock

• coarse-grained rock

Multiple Choice

Igneous rock that cools very quickly when it forms may have a texture that is

• smooth and shiny with no visible grain.

• multicolored and banded.

• coarse grained.

• made up of jagged grains.

Multiple Choice

The softest mineral on the Mohs hardness scale is

• quartz

• talc

• apatite

• gypsum

Multiple Choice

Most minerals do NOT split apart evenly. Instead, they have a characteristic type of

• cleavage

• fracture

• crystal

• luster

Multiple Choice

What is the hardest known mineral?

• talc

• quartz

• diamond

• gold

Multiple Choice

If you broke a mineral into tiny pieces, each piece would

• still show the same crystal structure.

• have the same shape.

• be roughly the same size.

• be metallic

Multiple Choice

Although brick, steel, and glass all come from substances found in Earth’s crust, they are not classified as minerals because

• they are organic.

• they are not naturally occurring.

• they are too hard.

• they have many uses.

Multiple Choice

The repeating pattern of a mineral’s particles forms a solid called a(an)

• crystal

• element

• compound

• rock

Multiple Choice

A mineral is inorganic, which means that it contains

• compounds

• materials made by humans

• parts of living things

• no materials that were once part of living things