Scribd
Upload
108 views11 pages

Silica Group: Mi Neralogy

The silica group is composed solely of silica (SiO2) and includes minerals like quartz, tridymite, cristobalite, and opal. Silicon and oxygen make up most of Earth's crust and silica minerals form when free silica crystallizes from magma. Quartz is the most common silica mineral, found in nearly all rock types. Other silica minerals like tridymite and cristobalite are less common. Silica minerals have linked tetrahedral structures and are used widely in construction, grinding, polishing, and manufacturing.

Uploaded by

Cy Rocamora
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
108 views11 pages

Silica Group: Mi Neralogy

The silica group is composed solely of silica (SiO2) and includes minerals like quartz, tridymite, cristobalite, and opal. Silicon and oxygen make up most of Earth's crust and silica minerals form when free silica crystallizes from magma. Quartz is the most common silica mineral, found in nearly all rock types. Other silica minerals like tridymite and cristobalite are less common. Silica minerals have linked tetrahedral structures and are used widely in construction, grinding, polishing, and manufacturing.

Uploaded by

Cy Rocamora
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 11

MINERALOGY

SILICA
GROUP
A PRESENTATION BY:
ROLEDA, JORDAN HANNAH
STA. ANA, FRANCIS ANGELO
Group of silicate minerals in
About the
the tectosilicates subclass composed only Silica Group
of silica (silicon dioxide - SiO2 ).
ALSO KNOWN AS THE
QUARTZ GROUP
GROUP
SILICA
Silicon and oxygen are the two most abundant elements
in Earth’s crust, in which they largely occur in
combination with other elements as silicate minerals.

Free silica (SiO2) appears as a mineral in


crystallizing magma only when the relative abundance of
SiO2 exceeds that of all other cations available to form
silicates.

Origin and
Occurence
GENERAL INFORMATION
59%
The mass of Earth’s crust is 59
percent silica, the
main constituent of more than 95
percent of the known rocks.
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL
PROPERTIES
The crystallographic structures of the
silica minerals, except stishovite, are
three-dimensional arrays of linked
tetrahedrons, each consisting of a silicon
atom coordinated by four oxygen atoms.

The tetrahedrons are usually quite regular,


and the silicon-oxygen bond distances are
1.61 ± 0.02 Å.
QUARTZ
Is by far the most commonly occurring form.

TRIDYMITE, CRISTOBALITE, AND


THE HYDROUS SILICA
MINERAL OPAL
are uncommon.

Example of minerals in the Silica VITREOUS (GLASSY) SILICA,


Group COESITE, AND STISHOVITE
have been reported from only a few localities.
Individual Silica Minerals
1
Varieties (according to color)

QUARTZ
AGGREGATES
FROM
MEXICO

QUARTZ
AMETHYST ROSE QUARTZ CITRINE SMOKY QUARTZ
• it is one of the most well-known minerals
on earth.
Most colours result from mechanically incorporated admixtures within fine-crystallized or
• It occurs in basically all granular quartz, but some coarse-crystallized varieties, such
mineral environments, and is the as amethyst (violet), citrine (yellow), milky quartz, smoky quartz or morion (black),
important constituent of many rocks. or rose quartz, may be coloured by ions other than silicon and oxygen that occur within the
crystal structure.
Individual Silica Minerals
2 3
CRISTOBALIT TRIDYMITE
E SPHERES TABULARS
FORMED BY
DEVITRIFICAT
ION FROM
THE OBSIDIA
N MATRIX

CRISTOBALITE TRIDYMITE
• It has been found in lunar basalts and in meteorites and is • may occur as a primary magmatic phase (i.e., as a direct result
common in silica refractories exposed to very high of crystallization from a silicate melt) in siliceous rocks but is
temperatures. most abundant in voids in volcanic rocks where it probably
was deposited metastably from hydrous gases.
• Cristobalite has the same
chemical composition as coesite, stishovite, quartz, and • found in meteorites and is common in lunar basalts
tridymite but has a different crystal structure.
Individual Silica Minerals
4 5
RAW OPAL CUT AND
MINED IN POLISHED
COOBER CHALCEDONY
PEDY, S.AUS. GEODE.

OPAL CHALCEDONY
• is poorly crystalline or amorphous hydrous silica that is • a very fine-grained (cryptocrystalline) variety of the silica
compact and vitreous and most commonly translucent white to mineral quartz (q.v.).
colourless.
• A form of chert, it occurs in concretionary, mammillated, or
• Opal forms by precipitation from silica-bearing solutions near stalactitic forms of waxy lustre and has a compact fibrous
Earth’s surface. structure, a fine splintery fracture, and a great variety of
colours—usually bluishwhite, gray, yellow, or brown.
USES
OF SILICA

FOR CONSTRUCTION GRINDING AND MANUFACTURING


is used in buildings and roads in the POLISHING of glass, ceramics, silicon carbide,
form of portland cement, concrete, of glass and stone ferrosilicon, and silicones
and mortar, as well as sandstone.
End. Thank you.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy