33
$
CHAPTER
T
he earth’s solid layer, called lithosphere,
is about 100 km in thickness. The word
‘lithosphere’ literally means ‘a sphere of
rocks’. Down to a depth of 16 km from the
earth’s surface, 95 per cent of the earth
materials consist of rocks. The rocks are made
of individual solid substances called minerals.
Each mineral usually contains two or more
elements, of which the whole earth is made of.
ROCKS
Petrologists (scientists who study rocks) define
a rock as any natural mass of mineral matter
that makes up the earth’s crust. All rocks are
not hard. Clay, for example, is a type of rock
that is soft. Chalk is still softer.
Rock Types
There are three main groups of rocks: Igneous;
Sedimentary; and Metamorphic Rocks.
Igneous Rocks
These are formed from lava hurled out of a
volcano or from the cooling of hot magma
below the crust. Granite is coarse-grained
igneous rock that is formed by the slow cooling
of magma. Basalt is fine-grained igneous rock,
almost black, that is formed by quick cooling
of lava. Igneous rocks are classified on the
basis of chemical composition and texture.
Chemical differentiation of magma gives rise
to mafic and felsic types of igneous rocks.
Texture relates to the sizes and patterns of the
mineral crystals present in the rock. The size
of mineral crystals in an igneous rock depends
largely upon the rate of cooling of magma. As
a general rule, rapid cooling results in small
ROCKS AND MINERALS
crystals and slow cooling in large crystals.
Extremely sudden cooling will result in the
formation of a natural glass which is non-
crystalline. Large bodies of magma, trapped
beneath the surface, cool very slowly because
the surrounding rock conduct the heat slowly.
Rapid cooling occurs in lava that loses heat
rapidly to the atmosphere or to the overlying
ocean water.
The crystals large enough to be seen with
naked eyes or with the help of a hand lens are
called phaneritic textured crystals whereas
those too small to be distinguished without the
aid of a microscope are called aphanitic textured
crystals of the igneous rocks. Where crystals
in the rock are all within the same size range,
the texture is described as equigranular.
Where a few large crystals, called as
phenocrysts, are embedded in a martix or
groundmass of smaller crystals, the texture is
porphyritic.
Sedimentary Rocks
These are made from sediments formed by the
erosion and weathering of other rock types.
Wind, water and snow erode rocks and carry
the sediments to low lying areas. When
deposited in the sea they are compressed and
hardened to form layers of rocks. Sediment is
fragmented mineral and organic matter
derived directly or indirectly from pre-existing
rocks and from life processes, transported
and deposited by air, water or snow/ice.
Sandstone is made from grains of sand,
which have been naturally cemented
together. Chalk is made up of millions of tiny
calcium carbonate (lime) skeletons of
microorganisms.
34
Throughout the geologic past, layers of
sediment have accumulated to great thickness
in certain favourable areas on the continents
and on the ocean floor. As new layers are
added, the underlying layers experience
progressively deeper burial. Under increasing
pressures imposed by the overlying load,
water is excluded from the sediment. They
become denser and strongly coherent.
Ultimately, hard rock layers are produced, a
process ter med lithification. In some
instances, chemical changes also occur in the
sediments following deposition. All processes
of physical and chemical change affecting
sediments during its conversion into solid rock
are called diagenesis.
The first level of classification of sedi-
mentary rocks is into clastic and non-clastic
divisions. The adjective “clastic” comes from
the Greek word “klastos”, meaning “broken”
and describes clastic sediments consisting of
particles removed individually from a parent
rock source. The naming of clastic rocks
depends in part on the size of component
mineral grains. A system of grading of mineral
grains has been established by geologists,
which is known as Wentworth Scale.
The non-clastic sedimentary rocks are
made of sediments of two basic types,
chemical precipitates and organically derived
sediments. Chemical precipitates are solid
mineral matters precipitated from an aqueous
solution in which the component ions have
been transported. The rock salt and gypsum
are its examples. The organically derived
sediments consist of remains of plants or
animals as well as mineral matters produced
by the activities of plants and animals. Coal
and limestone are very good examples of this
kind. Important non-clastic sediments are the
carbonate minerals, compounds of calcium or
magnesium ion or both. Sulphate compounds
are also minerals of the chemical sediments,
anhydrite (calcium sulphate) and gypsum
(hydrous calcium sulphate) are important
minerals.
Metamorphic Rocks
These types of rocks are formed when a rock
is subjected to heat and/or pressure (Fig. 6.1).
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
The heat and/or pressure alter the
characteristics of the original rock by forming
new minerals. Clay when subjected to heat and/
or pressure gets metamorphosed to slate.
Similarly, limestones give rise to marble.
The metamorphic rocks can be broadly
grouped into two major classes: cataclastic
rocks and recrystallised rocks. Cataclastic
rocks are formed by mechanical disruption
(breaking and crushing) of the original
minerals without appreciable chemical
change. The process is described as dynamic
metamorphism. The recrystallised rocks are
formed by the recrystallisation of the original
minerals. Minerals with different chemical
formulae and crystal lattices are produced due
to recrystallisation. The recrystallised rocks
are further divided into two subclasses:
contact and regional metamorphic rocks. The
contact metamorphic rocks are formed by
recrystallisation under high temperature
caused by the intruding magma. The rocks
are not subjected to bending and breaking but
new mineral/s, emanating from magma are
added to metamorphosed rocks. The regional
metamorphic rocks undergo recrystallisation
during the process of being deformed by
shearing, often under conditions of high
pressure or high temperature or both.
As metamorphism continues a large
percentage of the minerals assume plate-like
shape and are assembled in parallel
orientation in the rock, a structure known as
foliation. Strongly developed foliation is known
as schists. In schists, crystals of certain
minerals grow in size. These large crystals are
referred to as porphyroblasts. Another
structure found in metamorphic rocks is
lineation. In this, mineral grains are drawn out
into long, thin, pencil-like objects, all in
parallel alignment. In another for m of
structure, known as banding, minerals of
different varieties or groups are segregated
into alternate layers. These layers are usually
of light or dark shades, making the banding
conspicuous. Gneiss and schist have well
marked banded structure.
ROCKS AND MINERALS
Fig.6.1 : Rock Cycle
MINERALS
The mineral is a naturally occurring
homogeneous solid that is an inorganic
substance, having an orderly atomic structure
and a definite chemical composition. The basic
source of all minerals is the hot magma in the
interior of the earth. When magma cools,
crystals of minerals appear. These first
crystals may sink in the magma so that the
composition of the magma changes with
depth. Thus, a sequence of minerals is formed
in the rocks as the magma cools. Besides,
certain minerals such as coal, petroleum and
natural gas are organic substances found in
solid, liquid and gaseous forms respectively.
Physical Properties of Minerals
Minerals can be identified by their hardness,
colour, the way they reflect light (lustre), the
way they break (cleavage and fracture), and
their density.
35
Crystal Structure
Mineral crystals fall into six crystal systems
(Fig.6.2), each of which is defined in terms of its
crystallographic axes.
(i) Isometric System : Three axes of crystal are
of equal length and lie at right angle to each
other, e.g. Halite mineral.
(ii) Tetragonal System : Three axes make right
angles with each other. The two horizontal
axes, a and b, are of equal length but the
third, c axis, is of different length, e.g
Zircon mineral.
(iii) Hexagonal System : Four axes are present.
Three of the axes are horizontal and of
equal length, intersecting in angles of 600
and 1200. The fourth axes is perpendicular
to other axes and is of different length, e.g.
Beryl mineral.
(iv) Orthorhombic System : Three axes inter-
sect at right angles to each other, but they
are of unequal lengths, e.g. Staurolite
mineral.
36
(v) Monoclinic System : The three axes are of
unequal length. Two axes intersect at right
angles whereas the third axis intersects
obliquely forming an acute angle, e.g.
Gypsum mineral.
(vi) Triclinic System : The three axes are of
unequal length and intersect at oblique
angles, e.g. Albite mineral.
Cleavage and Fracture
The smooth planar surfaces of weakness along
which a mineral has pronounced tendency to
split is known as cleavage planes. It bears a
close relationship to internal atomic structure
and external crystal form of mineral. Minerals
Fig.6.2 : Mineral Crystals — Various Forms
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
lacking cleavage break along various types of
fracture surfaces. For example, the curved
fracture surfaces of a glass constitute
conchoidal fracture, that is seen in mineral
quartz.
Specific Gravity
Each mineral has a certain specific gravity which
is the ratio of its density to the density of water
at 40 Celsius. Specific gravity of minerals is a
property of great importance because it
determines the density of a given rock and rock
density in turn determines the gross layered
structure of the earth.
ROCKS AND MINERALS
Hardness
The degree to which a mineral surface resists
being scratched is known as its mineral
hardness. Hardness is geologically important
because it determines how easily a mineral is
worn away by the abrasive action of streams,
waves, wind and glaciers in the processes of
erosion and transportation. Ten standard
minerals constitute the Mohs Scale of
hardness ranging from the softest to the
hardest (Appendix II).
Lustre
The appearance of a mineral surface under
reflected light is referred to as its mineral
lustre. It is described by several descriptive
adjectives, such as metallic (metal like),
adamantine (diamond like), vitreous (glass
like), resinous (oil like), pearly or silky (pearl
or silk like).
Colour
Certain minerals possess a distinctive mineral
colour that facilitates recognition. The
impurities present in the mineral provides
shades of colour to a mineral.
Streak
When a mineral is rubbed across the white
porceline plate, known as streak plate, it may
leave a streak of mineral powder of distinctive
colour. The colour of powder of mineral may
sometimes be different than the colour of the
mineral.
Besides physical properties, minerals are
also identified on the basis of their optical
properties. These optical properties are
evaluated by means of a microscope using
polarised light rays and are of great value in
mineral identification.
Economic Importance of Minerals
Mineral resources can be divided into four
main groups: essential resources, energy
resources, metal resources, and industrial
37
resources. The most basic group, essential
resources, comprises soil and water. Energy
resources can be divided into the fossil fuels
(crude oil, natural gas, coal, oil shale and tar
sand) and the nuclear fuels (including
uranium, thorium and geothermal power).
Metal resources range from structural metals
such as iron, aluminum and titanium to
ornamental and industrial metals such as
gold, platinum and gallium. Industrial
minerals include more than 30 minerals, such
as salt, asbestos and sand (Appendix III).
Mineral deposits have two geological
characteristics that make them a real
challenge to modern civilisation. First, almost
all of them are non-renewable resources. The
geological processes that form them are much
slower than the rate at which we exploit them.
There is no likelihood of our ability to grow
mineral deposits at a rate equal to our
consumption. Second, mineral deposits have
a place value. We cannot decide where to
extract them; nature made that decision for us
when the deposits were formed.
Facts About Minerals
• There are at least 2,000 minerals that
have been named and identified. However,
most rocks are made up of not more than
12 different classes of minerals.
• The most common element in the earth’s
crust is oxygen. The second most
common element is silicon. Mineral
Quartz is silicon dioxide and is very
common mineral.
• The largest diamond ever found was the
Cullinan diamond, discovered in a mine
in South Africa in 1905. It was 3,106
carats, which means it weighed more
than 600 g.
• Diamond and Graphite are both forms of
carbon but their atoms are arranged
differently. Diamond is the hardest
mineral whereas Graphite is soft, black
and feels greasy.
• Under the sea, minerals dissolved in
water crystallise around the vents of
faults or fissures.
38 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

EXERCISES

Review Questions
1. Answer the following questions:
(i) Define a rock.
(ii) Name the types of rocks.
(iii) Which are the two main types of igneous rocks?
(iv) What is meant by ‘texture’ of the rocks?
(v) What is lithification?
(vi) Name the scale that grades the size of mineral grains.
2. Distinguish between:
(i) Rocks and minerals;
(ii) Chemical precipitates and organically derived sediments;
(iii) Cataclastic rocks and recrystallised rocks;
(iv) Foliation and lineation.
3. Give a word for the following:
(i) Few large crystals embedded in a matrix of smaller crystals.
(ii) The processes of physical and chemical changes affecting sediments during their
conversion into solid rocks.
(iii) Structure of a metamorphic rock in which mineral grains are drawn out into long, thin
pencil like objects, all in parallel alignment.
(iv) The smooth planar surfaces of weakness along which a mineral has pronounced tendency
to split.
4. Classify the following rocks into igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic:
(i) Granite;
(ii) Slate;
(iii) Marble;
(iv) Limestone;
(v) Clay;
(vi) Basalt;
(vii) Sandstones;
(viii) Coal;
(ix) Chalk;
(x) Gypsum;
(xi) Gneiss; and
(xii) Schist.
5. Write short notes on:
(i) Sedimentary rocks;
(ii) Types of metamorphism;
(iii) Economic importance of minerals.
6. Describe the formation of igneous rocks giving suitable examples of various types.
7. Discuss physical properties of minerals.

Finding Out
Collect rock samples of different kinds and write their main features as seen through naked eyes.