Glossary

Amorphous Rocks and mineral without crystal structure
Anthracite Coal Shiny coal
Arenaceous Sediments that have lots of sand
Basic rock Igneous rock with just a little silica content
Bedding Sedimentary rocks with parallel layers
Benthonic On the ocean floor
Ciliate Dusted with small fuzz-like structures
Clay Any soft sediment
Cleavage Minerals that break along smooth surfaces
Crystal Smooth material having a geometric shape and flat sides
Drift Huge pieces of loose materials that cover the earth left behind ice sheets, flooding rivers, and strong wind.
Drossy A drossy in a rock is a hole where well formed crystals form
Equigranular The feel of a rock where the grains are same size
Euhedral Well-formed crystals
Extrusive Rocks from a volcano that have cooled on the surface
Extrusive rock An igneous rock that hardens on the surface of the earth
Fragmental rock Sedimentary rock with mineral fragments
Fusion Being melted or dissolved by heat
Hardness The resistance of a mineral scratching
Igneous A rock that comes out of a volcano on to the earth
Intrusion Where magma wells up, but does not break the land as a volcano does
Intrusive rock Rocks that forms as magma cools - a gradual process
Lamellar Made of delicate and thin flat layers
Lava Molten rock that comes from a volcano on to the surface of the earth
Lava flow A body of rock formed by pouring lava.
Luster The way that the rock or mineral reflects light
Magma The melted rock that builds up in the earth's center
Metamorphic Rock Rocks that have been changed from one structure to another because of great heat and pressure. For instance, limestone becomes marble and granite becomes gneiss.
Orogeny All the ways a mountain range can be made
Outcrop Bedrock that is exposed at the surface of the earth
Panicked A pair of straight crystal faces
Petrology The study of rocks
Schillerization Fantastic color that appear in certain minerals like rode-like inclusions of iron ore
Sedimentary rock Different materials fossilized into a rock from the pressure of the earth's floor
Silica Silicon dioxide that occurs in many forms
Sill Thin layers of igneous rock that is forced in to sedimentary or metamorphic rock
Strata Sedimentary rock that has many layers
Streak The color of the powder of a mineral produced by rubbing the mineral over the surface
Structure It is what a large rock looks like; in minerals it is the shapes and forms of crystals
Texture The surface appearance of a rock