Chapter 4

MINERALS

 The earth, the other inner planets and the moon are made of
ROCKS.
 Rocks in turn, are made of MINERALS

•a naturally occurring substance

Minerals are:
•that is solid and stable at room temerature,
• by a substances
Naturally occurring
•representable chemical formula,
• Solid with
•usually abiogenic, and
crystalline structure
• •has an orderedbyatomic
Representable structure.
a chemical formula
• A regular structure made of atoms held together by electro‐magnetic
forces

A rock can be composed of only one type of mineral, but most rocks
are composed of several different types of minerals.
 What is a Mineral?

• There are over 4,900 known mineral species.

• The silicate minerals compose over 90% of the Earth’s crust.
• Silicon and oxygen constitute approximately 75% of the Earth's
crust, which translates directly into the predominance of silicate
minerals.
Minerals are distinguished by various chemical and physical
properties.
chemical elements

is a pure chemical substance consisting of one type of atom

distinguished by its atomic number, the number of protons in its
nucleus.
 How are mineral's formed

Crystallization is the process of mineral formation.

How?

In order for a mineral to crystallize, ions from the nearby environment

must be brought together. There exist three primary mechanisms for
mineral crystallization:

1- the precipitation of minerals from a saline solution.

2- the cooling of a melt: crystallization during cooling is the most

important process of mineral formation on Earth.

3- Crystallographic transformations that can occur in the solid state

When the ambient pressure or temperature changes to produce
a mineral that is in equilibrium with the new environment.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MINERALS

 Color
 Luster
 Cleavage
 Fracture
 Hardness
 Specific Gravity
 Streak

COLOR :

• Cobalt, Co, produces : violet‐red

• Chromium, Cr, produces: orange‐red
• Copper, Cu, produces: azure blue
• Iron, Fe, produces: red
• Manganese, Mn, produces: pink
• Nickel, Ni, produces: green
• Uranium, U, produces: yellow
• Vanadium, V, produces: Red‐orange
STREAK:

 Streak is the color of the powder of a mineral

 Color of the mineral may be different than the color of the streak

 Proper way to test for streak is to rub a mineral across a

tile of white porcelain and to examine the color of the "streak" left
behind
LUSTER
Description of the way light interacts with the surface of a crystal. It is
related to transparency and surface conditions.
• Dull ‐ just a non‐reflective surface of any kind

• Earthy ‐ the look of dirt or dried mud

• Fibrous ‐ the look of fibers

• Greasy ‐ the look of grease

• Metallic ‐ the look of metals

• Pearly ‐ the look of a pearl

• Pitchy ‐ the look of tar

• Resinous ‐ the look of resins such as dried glue or chewing gum

• Vitreous ‐ simply means the look of glass

• Waxy ‐ the look of wax

Fibrous
CLEAVAGE

• Crystal cleavage is a smooth break producing what appears to be a

flat crystal face
• the same mineral will always have the same cleavage.
FRACTURE
 Fracture is also a description of the breakage of minerals. Yet, while
cleavage is a direct product of the atomic arrangement, fracture
does not follow internal planes of weakness.

 the most important characteristic differentiating them is the

perfectly smooth and parallel faces of mineral cleavage compared to
the irregular and often curving fracture surfaces.
HARDNESS

• Hardness is a measure of the strength of the structure of the mineral

relative to the strength of its chemical bonds

• Hardness can be tested through scratching. A hard mineral can

scratch a softer mineral, but a soft mineral can not scratch a harder
mineral.

• There is no exact measure of mineral strength; therefore, only

relative scales of hardness have been developed(Mho’s scale)

Diamond, Mho’s hardness

scale =10
SPECIFIC GRAVITY

• Gold can easily be distinguished from "fool's gold" by specific

gravity alone

• Gs = Density of the mineral divided by the density of water

• The Earth's crust, where we are most likely to collect minerals from,
is composed mostly of the minerals quartz, calcite and feldspar.
These minerals have GS's around 2.7
 Rock Forming Minerals
Oxides (containing O2-) Oxygen in this state is commonly combined
with various metallic elements at or near the Earth’s surface. One of the
most abundant oxide minerals is hematite – iron oxides Fe2O3. More
commonly known as "rust", hematite is typically found on the surfaces
of weathered rocks, giving them their characteristic tan, red, or brown
color.

Hematite
Silicates (containing SiO44-)
The two most abundant elements in the crust of the Earth are oxygen
and silicon. Together, these two elements combine to create the most
important mineral the silicates. Silicate minerals such as Quartz,
Feldspars, Mica, Clay, Olivine…
Feldspar Mica

Olivine Quartz Pyroxene

Native Elements
Those with chemical formulae consisting of a single element, like
graphite ,diamond, gold, silver and copper.

silver

Sulfides and Sulfates(containing SO42-)

They include the important minerals gypsum and anhydrite, both are
calcium sulfates.

Gypsum
 Carbonates(containing CO32-)
These common rock-forming minerals are found in rocks as limestone
and dolostone. Calcite, calcium carbonate CaCO3, is the most abundant
and important of the carbonate minerals.

limestone calcite
Halides (salts)
Like chlorine (Cl) and fluorine (F).

Fluorine