Minerals Review of Foldable Notes What is a

Minerals Review of Foldable Notes

What is a Mineral? • Formed by natural process. • Inorganic – are not made by a life • • process. Has a chemical composition. Crystalline solids – repeating pattern of atoms • ~ 4, 000 minerals on the Earth.

The Structure of Minerals • Crystal – is a solid. – In this solid form atoms are arranged in a repeating pattern. • 6 Major crystal systems (Figure 3, p. 10)

6 Crystal Systems • 1. Cubic – ex: Fluorite. • 2. Hexagonal – ex: Quartz. • 3. Tetragonal – ex: Zircon. • 4. Orthorhombic – ex: Barite. • 5. Monoclinic – ex: Orthoclase. • 6. Triclinic – ex: Rhodonite.

Crystal Formation • Crystals form 2 natural processes: – Magma – From Solution

Magma Crystals • Magma = melted rock. Cools when reaches Earth’s surface. • As magma cools – Atoms loose energy and its atoms move closer together.

• Slow Cooling Magma – Large crystals • Fast Cooling Magma – Small Crystals

Crystals in Solution • Water evaporates and leaves ions / minerals. • Occurs in a dry climate. • Ex: Salt water.

• Crystal formation in solution can occur if too much of a substance is dissolved in water. • Will form crystals in the solution. • This is called precipitation.

Mineral Composition and Groups • 98 % of Earth’s crust is composed of 90 naturally occurring elements. • 8 Common minerals of Earth’s crust – Oxygen, Silicon, Aluminum, Iron, Calcium, Sodium, Potassium, &Magnesium.

Silicates • Silicates – minerals that contain Silicon (Si), Oxygen (O), and usually 1 more element. • Silicon and Oxygen are the most abundant elements of the Earth’s crust.

Calcite