Rocks and Minerals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Rocks and Minerals - Essay ExampleCrushed basalt is commonly used as aggregate in highway construction and railroad ballast. Basalt can also be found in asphalt. It is also used as floor tiles and stone monument. An evidence of basalt in mars is also noted as well as basaltic trembles in the moon. Basalt appearance is uniform but can be viewed under electron microscope to reveal its component silicate mineral.Dolerite is a type of basaltic rock. It is a fine grained igneous rock commonly called diabese. Dolerite is a medium grained igneous rocks commonly found in dikes and sills. It is composed mainly of plagioclase crystals, feldspar and clinopyroxene with augite and ilmenite as minor minerals. Unlike the common basalt, dolerite crystals can be viewed under a hand lens. This is an indication that dolerite was cooled slowly than basalt. Dolerite is noted for its resistance in weathering and therefore intimately commonly used to build roads and monumental stones. The Tasmanian penin sula in Tasmania, Australia has the worlds largest areas of dolerite.Most of the copper ore minerals are created by weathering and is mined as mineral chalcopyrite (CuFeS2). Chalcopyrite is the roughly abundant mineral ore of copper. When chalcopyrite is extracted for copper, it contains 34.5% by mass copper. Other copper mineral ores can be chalcocite Cu2S, covelite (CuS), bornite (2Cu2S*CuS*FeS), malachite (CuCO3Cu(OH)2), and cuprite (Cu2O). Copper mineral ores is mined for copper. Vast mountain areas are quarried for chalcopyrite, malachite and cuprite.Conglomerate is a large chunk of rock that has different minerals or rock types embedded to it. This is a type of sedimentary rock that is commonly found I beaches, rivers, and glaciers. Pebbles and small rocks are the major components of a conglomerate rock. Quartz is the most common mineral of pebble so is conglomerate. Iron oxide, calcium carbonate and silica are also tied together with all the components. Conglomerates doesnt have