Minerals Name plagioclase Colour/Luster White grey, light OR dark Cleavage 2 nearly at 90o Hardness 6.

0 (scratches glass) Miscellaneous Porcelain Picture

potassium feldspar

Pink to red

2 at 90o

pyroxene

Light to dark green

2 at 87o and 93o

6.0 (faint scratches on face)

Crystals, granular or massive

Quartz

Colourless milky, rose black

chalcopyrite Dark or brassy yellow

Greenish black colour streak

galena

Metallic/silver Perfect parallel to cube faces

Heavy

magnetite

Black, shiny, waxy

Heavy, dense Strong, magnetic An iron ore

pyrite

Metallic gold

biotite (strips)

Black or dark brown

calcite

Colourless, clear/glassy

3 not at 90o rhombohedra l

chlorite

Green to dark green

1 perfect

2.0 (soft/scratc h marks)

Waxy feel

garnet

Dark red, red brown, black

7.0-7.5 scratches glass easily

12 sided crystals (dodecahedron)

amphibole

Black lines

2 at 56o straight

Crystals elongated, commonly six sided

muscovite (strips)

Colourless to pale shades

olivine

Olive to yellow green

White yellowish streak

Igneous Rocks Rock pink granite Colour Rusted, redpink Texture Rough, dull Properties Embedded grey crystals Grain-size -coarse -felsic Picture

Andesite

Grey with black specks

medium

Chipped black strips

-fine -intermediate

Rhyiolite

Light grey

smooth

Predominantly one colour

-fine -felsic

Gabbro

Dark, grey near black

Rough

Scattered lighter specks

-coarse -mafic

Granodiorite

Black, grey specks

Rough

Dull, 3 shades of grey specks

-coarse -intermediate

Syenite

Dull pink, black

Rough

amygdaloidal basalt

Black, white specks

Smooth with impressions

Few crystals (made of potassium feldspar) Bubbled out white minerals

-coarse -felsic

-fine -mafic

Basalt

Black

Smooth

Full, all dark

-fine -mafic

granite porphyry

Pink/grey/black Rough, mixture jagged

Non-uniform specks, many colours LIGHT

-coarse -felsic

pumice

Grey

Rough, thin, sharp

white granite

Grey, yellow, light mixture with black specks

rough

Big, black indefinite specks

-coarse -felsic

Sedimentary Rocks Name Quartz sandstone Particle Size 1/16-2mm Looks like compacted sand formed into stone Miscellaneous With or without bedding (sediment lines) Picture

Conglomerate

>2mm pebbles, Some small or larger cobbles, boulders particles Angular particles rather than round

Potash

Medium

Pink to red, glossy (KCl)

Fossiliferous Limestone

None

Dark, dull, with traces of fossils

Gypsum

None

White, powdery

Graywacke

None

Thin, brittle Light weight and dull dark green colour

Chert

(Mudstone) <1/256 mm

Grey, white, yellow

Shale

(Mudstone) <1/256 mm Very fine grained

Black, smooth but not as smooth as slate

Rock Salt

Medium

Tastes like salt Looks like crude salt

Metamorphic Rocks Name Slate Colour/Characteristics black Miscellaneous SMOOTH Picture

Quartzo-Feldspathic Gneiss

Tan, grey streaks

Streaks of quartz, not flat sediments

Amphibolite Gneiss

-Black, brown/tan specks -Shiny, fine crystals

Crystals glisten

Quartz-GarnetMuscovite Schist

Shiny (garnet clearly visible)

Metallic silver

Quartzite

Relatively darker than regular quartz

Dull, specks

Granite Gneiss

Scattered colours

Granite with layered sediments

Garnet-Chlorite-Biotite Schist

Black, fine-grained and shiny

Hexagonal garnet crystals

Marble

White

Medium-grained crystals

Biotite Schist

Metallic bronze, gold, black

Biotite layered sediments (clear cleavage)

Chlorite Schist

Dark green, dull

Easily scratched