Minerals

Minerals: the building blocks of rocks

• Definition of a Mineral:
 naturally occurring
 inorganic
 solid
 characteristic crystalline structure
 definite chemical composition
 How do we identify minerals?

• Physical properties:
 Color
 Luster
 Hardness
 Crystal shape
 Cleavage
 Specific gravity
 Other
 Physical Properties of Minerals

• Color:
– Most obvious, but often misleading
– Different colors may result from impurities

Example:
Quartz
 Physical Properties of Minerals

• Color:
Streak – color of a mineral in powdered form
(used for metallic minerals)

Obtained by scratching
a mineral on a piece of
unglazed porcelain
(Streak Plate).

Example:
Hematite
 Physical Properties of Minerals

• Luster:
– How a mineral surface reflects light
– Two major types:
• Metallic luster
• Non-metallic luster

Metallic Non-metallic
example: example:
Galena Orthoclase
 Physical Properties of Minerals

• Hardness:
– How easy it is to scratch a mineral
– Mohs Scale of Hardness
• relative scale
• consists of 10 minerals, ranked 1 (softest)
to 10 (hardest)
Mohs Scale of Hardness

Hardest (10) – Diamond

Softest (1) – Talc

Common objects:
- Fingernail (2.5)
- Copper penny (3.5)
- Wire nail (4.5)
- Glass (5.5)
- Streak plate (6.5)
 Physical Properties of Minerals

• Crystal shape (or form):

– external expression of a mineral’s internal
atomic structure
– planar surfaces are called crystal faces
– angles between crystal faces are constant for
any particular mineral

Quartz Pyrite
 Physical Properties of Minerals

• Cleavage vs. Fracture:

– The way a mineral breaks
– Cleavage: tendency of a mineral to break
along planes of weakness
– Minerals that do not exhibit cleavage are said
to fracture

Do not confuse cleavage planes with crystal faces!

Crystal faces are just on the surface and may not
repeat when the mineral is broken.
 Physical Properties of Minerals

• Cleavage is described by:

– Number of planes
– Angles between adjacent planes

– These are constant for a particular mineral

 Physical Properties of Minerals

• Cleavage (1 direction):

Example: mica
 Physical Properties of Minerals

• Cleavage (2 directions):

orthoclase

amphibole
 Physical Properties of Minerals

• Cleavage (3 directions):

halite

calcite
 Physical Properties of Minerals

• Cleavage (4 directions):

fluorite
 Physical Properties of Minerals

• Fracture:
– minerals that do not exhibit cleavage are said to
fracture

– smooth, curved
surfaces when
minerals break in a
glass-like manner:
conchoidal fracture

Quartz
 Physical Properties of Minerals

• Specific gravity:
– weight of a mineral divided by weight of an
equal volume of water
– metallic minerals tend to have higher specific
gravity than non-metallic minerals
Galena Quartz
SG=7.5 SG=2.67
 Physical Properties of Minerals

• Other properties:
– reaction with hydrochloric acid (calcite fizzes)
– taste (halite tastes salty)
– feel (talc feels soapy, graphite feels greasy)
– magnetism (magnetite attracts a magnet)
 Mineral Groups

• Rock-forming minerals
– ~30 common minerals make up most rocks in
Earth’s crust
– Composed mainly of the 8 elements that
make up over 98% of the crust
 Mineral Groups

Element Abundances

Silica
SILICATES (SiO4)4-

Common cations that

bond with silica anions

All others: 1.5%

 Mineral Groups

• Silicates (most abundant)

• Non-silicates (~8% of Earth’s crust):
– Oxides O2-
– Carbonates (CO3)2-
– Sulfides S2-
– Sulfates (SO4)2-
– Halides Cl-, F-, Br-
– Native elements (single elements; e.g., Au)
 Mineral Groups – Silicates

• Silicates Silicon-oxygen
tetrahedron
– Tetrahedron
(SiO4)4-
• fundamental
building block
• 4 oxygen ions
surrounding a
much smaller
silicon ion
 Mineral Groups – Silicates

• Joining Silicate Structures

– How tetrahedra may be linked:
• independent tetrahedra
• single chains
• double chains
• sheets
• 3-D framework
Mineral Groups
– Silicates –
Mineral Groups – Silicates

Olivine Group
dark silicates (Fe-Mg)  ferromagnesian

No cleavage
Mineral Groups – Silicates

Pyroxene Group
Ferromagnesian / dark silicates (Fe-Mg)

Augite

2-directions
of cleavage
(at nearly 90 degrees)
Mineral Groups – Silicates

Amphibole Group
Ferromagnesian / dark silicates (Ca, Fe-Mg)

Hornblende

2-directions
of cleavage
(not at 90 degrees)
Mineral Groups – Silicates

Mica Group and Clay Minerals

light silicates (K, Al)  non-ferromagnesian

Muscovite
1-direction
of cleavage
 Mineral Groups – Silicates

Feldspar Group K-feldspar

light silicates (K-Na-Ca, Al)
Most common mineral group

Orthoclase

Plagioclase

2-directions
of cleavage
(at 90 degrees) Ca/Na-feldspar
 Mineral Groups – Silicates

Quartz
light silicates (pure SiO2)

no cleavage
(conchoidal fracture)
hard, resistant to weathering
Quartz
 Mineral Groups

Non-ferromagnesian
Silicates (K, Na, Ca, Al)

Ferromagnesian
Silicates (Fe, Mg)

Oxides
Carbonates
Sulfides/sulfates
Native elements