2. Lecture Outline
What are minerals?
Common rock-forming minerals
Physical properties of minerals
Basic rock types
The rock cycle
3. Minerals
Natural
Solid
Atoms arranged in orderly repeating 3D array:
crystalline
Not part of the tissue of an organism
Composition fixed or varies within defined limits
Minerals are the “building blocks” of rock
A mineral is a naturally occurring, solid
crystalline substance, generally inorganic,
with a specific chemical composition
4. Large individual crystals (rare)
Mass of small grains: each is a crystal,
but grown up against each other
6. Chemical Bonds: Ionic
Electrical attraction between ions of opposite charge
Bond strength increases with the electrical charges of the
ions
Bond strength decreases as the distance between the
ions increases
Most minerals are this kind of compound
9. Crystallization of Minerals
Need starting material with atoms that can come
together in the proper proportions
Growth from a liquid or a gas
Time and space for crystallization
Appropriate temperature and pressure
Examples
Magma that has cooled below its melting point
Supersaturated solution --> precipitation
10. Crystallization of Minerals
Crystals begin as an initial “seed” - a microscopic
crystal
Atoms keep being added in a 3D array, repeating the
basic arrangement
Crystal faces are based on the array structure
11. Cations and Anions
Anions are typically large
Cations are relatively small
Crystal structure is
determined largely by the
arrangement of the anions
13. Ions can be compound
So far, we’ve talked about individual atomic ions
Many common minerals are silicates
SiO4
4-
Complex ions act
as a single ion in
forming crystal
structure
14. Cation Substitution
Crystal structure determined by those large anions
Various cations can substitute for each other in many
minerals
Same crystal structure
Different chemical composition
20. Silicate structure
Most of the most common rocks in the crust are silicates
Silicate tetrahedra can combine in several ways to form
many common minerals
Typical cations:
K+, Ca+, Na+, Mg2+, Al3+, Fe2+
22. Carbonates
Cations with carbonate ion (CO3
2-)
Calcite (CaCO3), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2), siderite
(FeCO3), smithsonite (ZnCO3)
Make up many common rocks including limestone and
marble
Very important for CCS!
26. Oxides
Compounds of metallic cations and oxygen
Important for many metal ores needed to make things
(e.g., iron, chromium, titanium)
Ores are economically useful (i.e., possible to mine)
mineral deposits
33. Cave of the Crystals
•1,000 feet depth in the silver
and lead Naica Mine
•150 degrees, with 100 %
humidity
•4-ft diameter columns 50 ft
length
Gypsum
34. Identification of Minerals
Chemical composition (microprobes and wet chemical
methods)
Crystal structure (X-ray diffraction)
Physical properties
37. Physical properties
Hardness
Cleavage: tendency of minerals to break along flat
planar surfaces into geometries that are determined
by their crystal structure
43. Physical properties
Hardness
Cleavage
Fracture
Luster (metallic, vitreous, resinous, earthy, etc.)
Color (often a poor indicator; streak color is better)
Specific gravity
Crystal habit (shape)
44. Rocks
An aggregate of one or more minerals; or a body of
undifferentiated mineral matter (e.g., obsidian); or of
solid organic matter (e.g., coal)
More than one crystal
Volcanic glass
Solidified organic matter
Appearance controlled by composition and size and
arrangement of aggregate grains (texture)
45. RockTypes
Igneous
Form by solidification of molten rock (magma)
Sedimentary
Form by lithification of sediment (sand, silt, clay,
shells)
Metamorphic
Form by transformations of preexisting rocks (in
the solid state)
47. Intrusive (plutonic)
Form within the Earth
Slow cooling
Interlocking large crystals
Example = granite
48.
49. Extrusive (volcanic)
Form on the surface of the Earth as a result of volcanic
eruption
Rapid cooling
Glassy and/or fine-grained texture
Example = basalt
53. Origin of sediment
Produced by weathering and erosion or by
precipitation from solution
Weathering = chemical and mechanical breakdown of
rocks
Erosion = processes that get the weathered material
moving
54. Sediment types
Clastic sediments are derived from the physical
deposition of particles produced by weathering and
erosion of preexisting rock.
Chemical and biochemical sediments are precipitated
from solution.