MINERALS

Minerals make up the rocks beneath your feet, the soil that supports plants, and the
deep rock of Earth’s mantle. Any thorough study of Earth must include an understanding of
minerals. But it is not sufficient to study minerals isolated from the rest of the planet. Rather we
can learn more by observing the ways that minerals interact with other Earth systems.
Minerals are the building blocks of rocks. Mineralogists use the criteria to determine
whether a material is classified as a mineral or not.

HOW MINERALS ARE FORMED?

Minerals form in a variety of different ways. Some form when salt water evaporates or
when chemicals come out of hot fluids. Others are made when hot gases or molten rock cool or
when heat or pressure change pre-existing minerals.
Minerals start as atoms moving randomly in a fluid. When the fluid cools, the atoms link
together in regular shapes and form a crystal lattice. How large a mineral grows, and its final
crystal shape, is determined by temperature, pressure, chemical conditions and available space.

Cave formations

Water is a liquid mineral that both destroys and creates other minerals. It dissolves
minerals to form solutions that can, through evaporation and chemical changes, form new
minerals. Limestone caves are an example of this.
On its own, water cannot easily dissolve limestone. However, as it moves through the
atmosphere and soil it takes on carbon dioxide and becomes a weak acid. This acid eats away
the calcium carbonate of the limestone to form caves. The water, now rich in dissolved
limestone, can create crystalline formations in the cave. As water seeps into chambers, carbon
dioxide escapes from the solution and calcium carbonate crystallizes to form decorations such
as stalagmites, stalactites, columns, flowstone and helictites.
A variety of minerals can form in caves. Calcium carbonate minerals such as calcite and
aragonite are common in limestone caves, but other types of caves often contain more unusual
minerals. For instance, calcium phosphate and rare ammonium phosphate minerals have been
found in caves used by bats. This is because decomposing bat droppings form a sticky substance
called guano. Mineralized groundwaters combine with the phosphates and other organic
materials in the guano to create new minerals.

Evaporites

Salt lakes, seas and inland drainage basins contain large amounts of dissolved minerals,
leached from surrounding rocks, older evaporite deposits or ocean salts blown inland.
Evaporation by the sun concentrates these salty waters until crystals grow.
Gypsum is usually the first mineral to crystallize because of its lower solubility, and the
remaining sodium, potassium and chlorine form common salt (halite) and sylvite (potassium
chloride). Salt can also be grown in artificial ponds in lakes and seas. Many of the world’s
chemical industries depend on these mineral salts.
Volcanism

Volcanoes are vents where molten rocks and hot vapors escape Earth’s interior. They
are also where most of the rocks and minerals that make up the Earth’s crust are formed. The
minerals formed depend on temperature and the chemical make-up of the lava and gases.
Some form in the early hottest stage or as lava becomes solid. Others form from escaping gases
and vapours that react with the colder rims to leave minerals behind. Some minerals also grow
in cavities left by escaping steam.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MINERALS
1. Naturally occurring

Term which identifies mineral as part of earth’s natural processes.

2. Inorganic

It means that a substance is not a product of an organism.

3. Homogeneous solid

Minerals should have definite volume and rigid shape

4. Definite chemical composition

Represented by a chemical formula

5.Orderly crystalline structure

An atom of minerals is arranged in an orderly and repeating pattern

METHODS USED TO IDENTIFYING MINERALS

More than 4,000 minerals are known to man, and they are identified by their physical and chemical
properties. The physical properties of minerals are determined by the atomic structure and crystal
chemistry of the minerals. The most common physical properties are crystal form, color, hardness,
cleavage, and specific gravity.

CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURE OR HABIT

One of the best ways to identify a mineral is by examining its crystal form (external
shape). A crystal is defined as a homogenous solid possessing a three-dimensional internal
order defined by the lattice structure.
Crystals developed under favorable conditions often exhibit characteristic geometric
forms (which are outward expressions of the internal arrangements of atoms), crystal class, and
cleavage. Large, well-developed crystals are not common because of unfavorable growth
conditions, but small crystals recognizable with a hand lens or microscope are common.
Minerals that show no external crystal form but possess an internal crystalline structure are
said to be massive.
A few minerals, such as limonite and opal, have no orderly arrangement of atoms and
are said to be amorphous.
 Crystals are divided into six major classes based on their geometric form: isometric,
tetragonal, hexagonal, orthorhombic, monoclinic, and triclinic. The hexagonal system also has a
rhombohedral subdivision, which applies mainly to carbonates.

CLEAVAGE AND FRACTURE

After minerals are formed, they have a tendency to split or break along definite planes
of weakness. This property is called cleavage. These planes of weakness are closely related to
the internal structure of the mineral, and are usually, but not always, parallel to crystal faces or
possible crystal faces. Minerals may have one, two, three, four, or six directions of cleavage.
These cleavage forms are cubic, octahedral, dodecahedral, rhombohedral, prismatic, and
pinacoidal. Minerals that break easily along these lines of weakness have shiny surfaces. Many
crystals do not cleave, but fracture or break instead. Quartz, for example, forms well-developed
crystal faces but does not cleave at all; instead, it fractures or breaks randomly with a
conchoidal fracture.

COLOR
The color of a mineral is, for the amateur mineralogist, the most important identifying
characteristic. Many minerals exhibit various colors; the varieties are mainly caused by
impurities or a slight change in chemical composition. For example, calcite can be white, blue,
yellow, or pink. Surface tarnish may have changed the color of a specimen, so a fresh surface
should be examined.

HARDNESS
The hardness of a mineral can be measured by its resistance to scratching or abrasion.
The Mohs scale is a set of 10 common minerals chosen for comparative hardness. The minerals
are arranged in order of increasing hardness; each mineral will scratch all that precede it, and
be scratched by all that follow it. The Mohs scale is as follows:
1. Talc (Soft)
2. Gypsum
3. Calcite
4. Fluorite
5. Apatite
6. Orthoclase
7. Quartz
8. Topaz
9. Corundum
10. Diamond (Hardest)
STREAK
The streak of a mineral is the color of the powder produced when the mineral is rubbed
against an unglazed porcelain plate or other fine-grained, hard, abrasive surface. The color of a
particular mineral may vary, but the streak is generally constant. The streak may be the same
color as the mineral or an entirely different color, but the streak of all white minerals, including
calcite, is white.

LUSTER
Luster refers to the brightness of light reflected from the mineral's surface.
The main types of lusters are metallic and nonmetallic. Some of the more important
nonmetallic lusters are:
Adamantine: brilliant, like that of a diamond
Earthy: dull, like kaolin
Silky: having the sheen of silk, like satin spar, a variety of gypsum
Greasy: oily appearance
Resinous: waxy appearance, like sphalerite
Vitreous: the appearance of broken glass, like quartz
Nacreous (pearly): like mother of pearl; for example, pearly luster on fossil gastropods and
cephalopods

DIAPHANEITY/AMOUNT OF TRANSPARENCY
Ability to allow light to pass through it. This is affected by chemical makeup of the
mineral sample.

TENACITY
Tenacity is the measure of a mineral's cohesiveness or toughness. Tenacity terms are:
Brittle: breaks or powders easily; for example, pyrite or marcasite
Ductile: can be drawn into a wire; for example, copper
Elastic: bends and resumes its original position or shape when pressure is released; for
example, biotite or muscovite
Malleable: can be hammered into thin plates or sheets; for example, gold or copper
Sectile: can be cut or shaved with a knife; for example, gypsum or galena

ACID TEST
When carbonates (especially calcite) are treated with cold, dilute hydrochloric acid, they will
effervesce (foam and bubble) and give off carbon dioxide gas. When sulfides, such as galena, pyrite, and
sphalerite, are treated with dilute hydrochloric acid, they will give off the rotten-egg odor of hydrogen
sulfide.

MAGNETISM
A few minerals, such as magnetite and pyrrhotite, are attracted by a magnet and are
said to be magnetic. Magnetic minerals are rare in Kentucky, but do occur in the kimberlite in
Elliott County. If you find a large piece of highly magnetic material, it may be a meteorite or a
furnace product.

FLUORESCENCE
Some minerals, such as calcite, gypsum, halite, uranium minerals, and fluorite, will
fluoresce in brilliant colors when viewed with an ultraviolet light. UV light is not normally visible
to the human eye, and you should avoid looking directly at the UV source, because it can
damage eyesight.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ROCKS AND MINERALS

A mineral is a naturally occurring substance with distinctive

chemical and physical properties, composition and atomic structure.
Rocks are generally made up of two of more minerals, mixed up
through geological processes.