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layering or stratification in sedimentary rocks |
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Rock still attached to the Earth's crust |
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mineral material that precipitates from water and fills the spaces between grains, holding the grains together |
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Clastic
(detrital sedimentary rock) |
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sedimentary rock consisting of cemented-together detritus derived from the weathering of preexisting rock |
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containing a crystal lattice |
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rocks containing calcite and/or dolomite |
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the tendency of a mineral to break along preferred planes; a type of foliation in low-grade metamorphic rock |
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Smoothly curving, clamshell-shaped surfaces along which materials with no cleavage planes tend to break |
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a single, continuous piece of a mineral bounded by flat surfaces that formed naturally as the mineral grew. |
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the flat surface of an euhedral mineral grain |
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the general shape of a crystal or cluster of crystals that grew unimpeded |
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the orderly framework within which the atoms or ions of a mineral are fixed |
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the internal arrangement of atoms or ions within a crystal |
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a term for a grain that has the same dimensions in all directions |
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the flat surface of a cut gemstone; facets are produced by grinding |
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a mineral or form of a mineral that is particularly beautiful and/or rare, and thus has value |
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A cavity in which euhedral crystals precipitate out of water solutions passing through a rock |
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In mineralogy, hardness refers to the resistance of a mineral to scratching; a harder mineral can scratch a softer mineral |
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A chunk of rock, about the size of a fist, typically collected to serve as a sample for further study |
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Rock that forms when hot molten rock (magma or lava) cools and freezes solid |
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A term for a mineral grain whose length and width are not the same |
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the way a mineral surface scatters light |
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A fabric defined by parallel surfaces or layers that dvelop in a rock as a result of metamorphism; schistocity and gneissic layering are examples |
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A homogenous, naturally occurring, solid inorganic substance with a definable chemical composition and an internal structure characterized by an orderly arrangement of atoms, ions, or molecules in a lattice. Most minerals are inorganic |
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A list of ten minerals in a sequence of relative hardness, with which other minerals can be compared |
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a photograph of a thin section, as viewed through a petrographic microscope |
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Two minerals that have the same chemical compostion but a different crystal lattice structure |
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A coherent, naturally occurring solid, consisting of an aggregate of minerals or a mass of glass |
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Minerals composed of silicon-oxygen tetrahedra linked in various arrangements; most contain other elements too |
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Silicon-oxygen Tetrahedron |
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The basic building block of silicate minerals; it consists of one silicon atom surrounded by four oxygen atoms |
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A number representing the density of a mineral, as specified by the ratio between the weight of a volume of the mineral and the weight of an equal volume of water |
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The color of the powder produced by pulverizing a mineral on an unglazed ceramic plate |
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The condition in which the shape of one part of an object is a mirror image of the other part |
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Rock that forms either by the cementing together of fragments broken off preexisting rock or by the precipitation of mineral crystals out of water solutions at or near the Earth's surface |
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A 3/100-mm-thick slice of rock that can be examined with a petrographic microscope |
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