UNIT-1;

II PART

MINERALOGY
Mineralogy is a branch of geology relates to the minerals, their physico-chemical
properties, mode of formation and occurrence in the environment.

A MINERAL is a NATURALLY OCCURRING, HOMOGENEOUS, INORGANIC

SOLID SUBSTANCE, characterised by a DEFINITE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION and
a DEFINITE CRYSTAL STRUCTURE (an orderly geometric arrangement of atoms).

Minerals occur generally in the form of natural aggregates known as rocks. So, rocks may be
defined as an aggregate of minerals.

Rock forming minerals:

Minerals, resulting in the formation of rocks are termed as rock-forming minerals.

Rock forming minerals are broadly classified into;

(1) (2)

Silicate Non-silicate
rock-forming minerals rock-forming minerals
(e.g.: olivine, augite, feldspar, (e.g.: carbonates, sulphates,
micas, quartz etc.) oxides etc.)

Ferro-magnesian Non-ferro-magnesian
silicate minerals silicate minerals
(Fe & Mg dominant, (Al dominant with Ca,
hence, dark coloured) Na & K; light coloured)

Olivine group Feldspar group:

(e.g.: Olivine) (a) Plagioclase group
(e.g.: Anorthite; Ca-rich mineral
Pyroxene group & Albite; Na-rich mineral)
(e.g.: Augite)
(b) Potash feldspar group
Amphibole group (e.g.: Orthoclase; K-rich mineral)
(e.g.: Hornblende)
Mica group
Mica group (e.g.: Muscovite)
(e.g.: Biotite)
Quartz
Economic minerals:

Ores are the minerals or mineral aggregates (rocks) from which a valuable metal
constituent can be mined / extracted profitably. Therefore, such minerals having economical
importance are termed as economic minerals. Most of these belong to non-silicate rock
forming minerals.

E. g.: Native metals like copper, silver, gold and platinum; native non-metals like sulphur,
graphite and diamond.

More than 2000 minerals are known to occur in the crust of the earth.

Some of them are;

Very common: Quartz, feldspar and calcite

Less common: Ores of gold, iron, aluminium and zinc

Very rare: Diamond, sapphire and dumortierite

Minerals are identified based on their physical, optical and chemical properties.

Physical properties of minerals

Colour:

It is the appearance of any object in light that depends on the reflection and absorption
of visible portion of natural (the sun’s radiation) or artificial sources of light. The absorption /
reflection of light radiation is by virtue of the composition and atomic structure of minerals.

Thus, minerals are grouped into three based on their colour;

Idiochromatic: Minerals with characteristic, constant colour; this is primarily due to

the composition of minerals. E.g.: Metallic minerals like groups of copper, silver and gold.
Lazurite (deep blue), pyrite (brass yellow), cinnabar (carmine red) and magnetite (black).

Allochromatic: Minerals exhibiting variable colours. Thorough dispersion of minute

quantities of colouring impurities within the mineral is the reason for this type of behaviour.
E.g.: quartz, calcite, fluorite and tourmaline found in more than two colours.

Pseudochromatic: Minerals exhibiting false colour. The colour variation is observed

in succession when such minerals are rotated. This is due to the simultaneous reflection and
refraction from the surface of both mineral and inclusions of impurities within the host
mineral.
Lustre:

In simple words, it is the shine of a mineral. In other words, it is the intensity of

reflection of light from the mineral surface. This depends on;

1) Refractive index
2) Absorption of light by the mineral
3) Nature of reflecting surface

Qualitative terms representing lustre of minerals are;

Metallic: Metallic shine; e.g.: pyrite (FeS2) and galena (PbS)

Adamantine: Lustre of diamond; e.g.: diamond
Vitreous: Shine like glass or ice; e.g.: quartz
Pearly: Shine like pearl; e.g.: Labradorite (a variety of plagioclase feldspar)
Silky: Shine like pure silk; e.g.: gypsum
Resinous: Oily, waxy or greasy shine; e.g.: nepheline
Dull / earthy: No notable shine is observed due to the less reflection of light, owing to
the porous nature of minerals; e.g.: Chalk and clay.

Streak:

It is the colour of the finely powdered mineral obtained by scratching / rubbing it

over a rough unglazed porcelain plate; the plate is named as streak plate.

Colourless and transparent minerals always give colourless streak. The coloured and opaque
minerals show characteristic streaks different from those of similarly looking minerals.
E.g.: Chromite (FeCr2O4) and magnetite (Fe3O4) although resemble, the streak of chromite is
brown and that of magnetite is black.

NOTE: Colour of the streak need not be same as that of the mineral.

Hardness:

It is the resistance offered by a mineral to an external deforming force like

scratching, abrasion, rubbing or indentation; it is a relative, qualitative property of minerals.
Mohs’ scale of hardness is considered to be a standard scale of mineral hardness, where
values ranging from 1 to 10 in the order of increasing hardness.

Following is the Mohs’ scale of hardness for minerals:

Mohs’ hardness Mineral Chemical formula Image

Mohs’ hardness Mineral Chemical formula Image

1 Talc Mg3Si4O10(OH)2

2 Gypsum CaSO4·2H2O

3 Calcite CaCO3

4 Fluorite CaF2

5 Apatite Ca5(PO4)3(OH–,Cl–,F–)

6 Orthoclase KAlSi3O8

7 Quartz SiO2
Mohs’ hardness Mineral Chemical formula Image

8 Topaz Al2SiO4(OH–,F–)2

9 Corundum Al2O3

10 Diamond C

NOTE: Hardness of Brass: H = 3; glass: H = 5.5; steel: H = 6; human finger nail: H =

1.5-2.5.

Hardness of quartz and talc are 7 and 1 respectively; it does not mean that quartz is 7
times harder than talc.

Hardness may vary in different directions for a mineral. E.g.: Value of H for the mineral
Kyanite is 4.5 along the length and H = 6.5 across the mineral length.

Hardness of a mineral decreases on weathering. Therefore, this property should be checked

on unweathered / unaltered mineral suraces.

Cleavage:
It is the tendency of a crystallised mineral to break along certain definite directions
easily, resulting in smooth, plane surfaces. In other words, planes of easy breakage in
crystallised minerals are the cleavage planes.
In terms of perfection, the cleavage is described as: eminent, perfect, good, distinct
and indistinct. Mineral with eminent cleavage can be split easily; e.g. mica. Orthoclase and
calcite exhibit perfect cleavage.
Fracture:
It is the appearance of the broken surface of a mineral in a direction other than that of
cleavage.
Types of fractures:
Even: Where the fractured surface is smooth and flat. E.g. Chert.
Uneven: Fractured surface is irregular full of minute ridges and depression.
 E.g. Fluorite.
Conchoidal: Fractured surface is characterised with concentric rings. E.g. quartz.
Splintry: Broken surface resembles rough wood fracture. Eg. Kyanite.
Hackly: Highly irregular fractured surface with sharp, fine pinching projections. E.g.
Native Copper
Earthy: Smooth, soft and porous fractured surface. E.g. Chalk.

Tenacity:
It is the behaviour of a mineral towards the forces that tend to break, bend, cut or
crush.
Terms representing tenacity:
• SECTILE: Can be cut with knife
• DUCTILE: Stretched into thin wires
• MALLEABLE: Made into thin sheets
• BRITTLE: Breaks into fine grains
• ELASTIC: Returns to original shape
• PLASTIC: Looses original shape after a certain limit

Structure / form:
The physical shapes / characteristic body forms of minerals are termed as structures.
Structure suggests the characteristic shape in which a mineral is found in nature.
Common structural forms of minerals are (CHECK FOR SHAPES IN THE PPT FILE):
• Tabular: Like boxes of rectangular / square cross section. E.g.: Calcite, orthoclase,
barite.
• Elongated: Thin / thick elongated column-like. E.g.: Beryl
• Bladed: Like thin, flat, blade-like. E.g.: Kyanite
• Lamellar: Thick, flexible, leaf-like sheets. E.g.: Vermiculite
• Foliated: Similar to lamellar but sheets are relatively thinner (paper thin) and easily
be separated. E.g.: Muscovite (mica)
• Fibrous: Composed of fibres. E.g.: Asbestos
• Radiating: Found in minerals having needle like / fibrous crystals appeared to be
originating from a common point. E.g.: Iron pyrites
• Granular: Like densely packed mass of small grain-like crystals. E.g..: Magnetite,
Chromite

• Globular / botryoidal: Like rounded, bulb-like overlapping globules or projections.

In simple terms, like a bunch of grapes. E.g.: Haematite
• Reniform: Similar to globular, but shapes resemble the human kidneys. Haematite is
also found in this form.

Specific gravity:
It is the ratio of the density of a mineral to that of water at 4 oC; this can be
understood as a relative density. As specific gravity is calculated by a ratio, it does not have
unit. E.g.: Specific gravity of quartz is 2.65.

This parameter depends on;

1) mineral composition: The non-metallic minerals have low specific gravity in
the range 2.5-4.5 whereas, the metallic minerals have higher values.
and
2) radii of constituent atoms: Minerals with atoms of greater atomic radii obtain low
specific gravity and vice versa.