Question

Identify the TRUE statement.

a. Of the silicate minerals, those with the most silicon-oxygen bonds weather faster since chemical reactions happen at the atomic bonding level.
b. The silicate minerals that cool at the lowest temperatures are the first to weather.
c. Minerals containing iron, sodium, and potassium are more resistant to weathering.
d. In a granite containing quartz, mica, and feldspar, everything weathers to clay except the quartz.

Answer 1

d. In a granite containing quartz, mica, and feldspar, everything weathers to clay except the quartz.

Step-by-step explanation:

Granite is a rock formed by a set of minerals, but its composition is basically as follows: Quartz, a colorless mineral; Feldspar (orthoclase, sanidine and microcline), responsible for the variety of colors, including reddish, pink and cream-gray; and Mica (biotite and muscovite), which adds shine to the rock. Of these three minerals, mica and feldspar generate clay during the weathering process, however quartz does not generate clay, probably due to its hardness.