During a hike in Utah\'s Zion National Park, you pick up a sedimentary rock samp

Question

During a hike in Utah's Zion National Park, you pick up a sedimentary rock sample. When you examine the sample with your had lens, you see that the rock consists mainly of rounded glassy particles that appear to be quartz. To be sure, you make two basic tests. When you check for hardness, the rock easily scratches glass, which is what quartz would do. However, when you place a drop of dilute hydrochloric acid on the sample, it fizzes. Explain how a rock that appears to be rich in quartz could effervesce (fizz) with the acid

Explanation / Answer

carbonate cement filling the intergranular space is common. even thought the sample is primarily quartz, that doesn't mean it is exclusively quartz. In such a situation, you could likely watch the effervescence and see that it occurs at the edges of the quartz and along fractures. you would also probably see that the reaction would not happen over and over with application of acid, which it would normally do if the carbonate had a high content.

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