Geology 12:

Minerals
Lecture Notes And Figures
#1 - General
Information:
 More than 2000 different kinds of minerals have been
identified and named.

Minerals are the most common visible substance on earth.

Rock-forming minerals: main minerals observed in rocks

Industrial minerals: main minerals used to manufacture
physical materials (ex: copper from malachite)
Biochemical minerals: manufactured by organisms
(ex: clams/mollusks use to construct shells)
 The solid earth (the lithosphere) is
composed of minerals.

Minerals:

are vital as natural resources

are active in geological
processes associated with
earthquakes and volcanoes
provide clues to how rocks
are formed
and record the history of our
planet.
#2 - Definition of a
Mineral:
To be considered a mineral, a substance must
possess the following five characteristics:
1. Naturally Occurring (not made in the laboratory)

2. Inorganic (not living material)

3. Solid

4. A Regular Internal Crystal Structure*

- defined by an orderly arrangement of its atoms.

5. A Definite Chemical Composition**

- the presence of certain elements in certain
proportionscan only vary within specified limits.
 *A Regular Internal Crystal Structure:
Solids in which atoms are arranged in regular
repeating patterns of three dimensional arrangement.

Materials with crystalline structure form crystals

Few minerals like limonite (rust) and opal do not have

crystalline structure (mineraloids)

Most mineral crystals occur in rocks-aggregates of one of

more minerals
 **A Definite Chemical Composition
Minerals consist either of one element or are
compounds of two or more elements.

One defining characteristic of minerals is the

presence of certain elements in certain proportions.
 Solid Solution:
2 or more ions of similar size and charge may
substitute more or less interchangeably for each
other in the same mineral structure.

These substitutions will result in slightly different forms

of the same minerals.

So instead of a definite chemical composition we say

they have a definite compositional range of elements.

Example - Magnesium (Mg 2+) and Iron (Fe 2+) ions

are nearly the same size so many minerals are able to
interchange them freely!
 Wollastonite = CaSiO3
Orthopyroxene = FeSiO4
Rhodonite = MnSiO3
Plagioclase Feldspar group (solid solution)
 Polymorphs:
Minerals having same composition but
distinctively different crystal structures.

For Example
diamond and graphite
are chemically the same.
both pure carbon (C).
but physically different due to
differences in their crystalline
structures.
 Rocks:
A ROCK is a solid, cohesive aggregate of one or
more minerals or mineral materials.

A rock consists of many individual mineral grains, not

necessarily all of the same mineral, or of mineral grains
plus glass, all firmly held together in a solid mass.

A beach sand consists of many mineral grains but they

fall apart when handled, so sand is not a rock

Creation of rock from sediments = Lithification.

 #3 - Mineral
Identification &
Mineral Properties:
 Absolute Identification:
Minerals can be only identified absolutely by x-ray
analysis and chemical tests DONE IN LAB!

The x-ray analysis determines the structure of

the mineral and the chemical tests determine the
composition of the mineral.

Structure and Composition are the

FUNDAMENTAL DEFINING marks of a given
mineral.

Both structure and composition affect certain

physical properties.

It is through the proper use of these properties

that minerals can reliably be identified in the field.
Seven Commonly Used Properties to
Identify Minerals in the Field:
1) color and clarity
2) crystal form
3) luster
4) streak
5) cleavage
6) fracture
7) hardness
 1) Colour and Clarity:
Colour is the first physical property we notice.

Usually a poor guide to identification since many minerals

share the same colour, and impurities also effect colour!

Crystals with many colours can be assumed to be different

minerals.

Minerals in variety of colours are given a variety of names.

Minerals may have different coloured interior than surface.

Unusual colouring may make mineral unusually valuable.

 The same mineral may vary in colour due to presence
of small amounts of chemical impurities

Ex) the following are all Quartz

Amethyst Agate Tiger's Eye

Citrine Pink Quartz Rock Quartz

 Mineral crystals may vary in clarity of colour
(or lack of it)

May be :
transparent - clear
translucent - foggy
opaque - impervious to light (like metals)
 2) Crystal Form:
The characteristic crystal form (or combination of forms)
of a mineral is that minerals habit.

Crystals form because they are the most stable

arrangement of atoms in a solid.

Perfect crystal forms can only develop if a mineral crystal

is unrestricted as it grows (rare)
 It is more common for crystals to crowd
together as they grow, resulting in a network
of inter-grown crystals that do not exhibit their
crystal form!

Even if crystal forms develop they may be

cryptocrystalline / microcrystalline
- too small to see.

If form of crystal is visible then it can be used

as a distinctive property for identification, but
not usually possible.

Ex) table salt crystallizes in cubes.

 Some minerals can form
massive crystal habit -
shapeless, no external
crystal shape.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_habit
 3) Lustre:
A description of how mineral surfaces reflect light.

Metallic (M): bright and shiny like metals

Nonmetallic (NM): lustre unlike that of metal
Adamantine - very gemmy crystals (diamond)
Dull - just a non-reflective surface of any kind
Earthy - the look of dirt or dried mud
Fibrous - the look of fibres
Greasy - the look of grease
Gumdrop - the look a sucked on hard candy
Pitchy - the look of tar
Resinous - the look of resins such as dried glue or
chewing gum
 Silky - the look of silk, similar to fibrous but more
compact

Pearly - the look of a pearl

 Vitreous - the most common lustre, it simply
means the look of glass

Waxy - the look of wax

 4) Streak:
Colour of powder left after scraping
sample across surface of porcelain
streak plate.

Often called a minerals true colour

because streak of certain mineral is
usually same regardless of variety/
clarity.

It is a minerals colour in powdered form.

However, like colour it is not unique

because many minerals share same
streak colour.
 Two minerals that have similar outward color may
have different colours when powdered.

For instance, the minerals hematite and galena

can be confused because both have a grey color.

However, hematite's streak is blood-red, while
galena's streak is lead grey.
 When a mineral breaks it does so either by fracturing
or by cleaving.
5) Cleavage:
Crystal cleavage is a smooth break producing what
appears to be a flat crystal face or crystal form careful
not to confuse them!

Tested by striking with hammer.

The same mineral will always have the same cleavage.

Cleavage surfaces occur as sets of parallel surfaces of

weak chemical bonding between repeating parallel
layers of atoms in a crystal.

Each set of parallel cleavage planes has an orientation

relative to crystalline structure and is referred to as
cleavage direction.
Biotite (black) has one good cleavage!

So does muscovite (clear)!

Biotite and muscovite are both MICAS.

Easy To Confuse Cleavage With Crystal Form!
 6) Fracture:
Also tested by hitting with a hammer!

Mineral breaks along curved surfaces, irregular, with no

well-defined cleavage planes
i.e. no noticeable cleavage!

Described as uneven, conchoidal, splintery, hackly, etc.

 A very common fracture type is
conchoidal fraction.

This is a smoothly curved fracture that is

familiar to broken glass.
Obsidian
 7) Hardness:
The ability to resist scratching!

Based on Internal Structure.

Minerals with small atoms, packed tightly
together with strong covalent bonds
throughout tend to be the hardest minerals.

The softest minerals have metallic bonds or

even weaker van der Waals bonds as
important components of their structure.

Hardness is generally consistent because the

chemistry of minerals is generally consistent.
 Measured using Mohs Hardness Scale.

Created by German mineralogist Friedrich Mohs

10 minerals arranged in order of hardness

Talc is softest and has hardness of 1

Diamond is hardest at 10
 Other properties:
1. Tenacity
2. Reaction with acid
3. Magnetism
4. Specific gravity (SG)
5. Florescence
6. Double Refraction
 1) Tenacity:
Manner in which a substance resists breakage.

Brittle: shatters like glass

Malleable: like modeling clay/gold, hammered, bent

to new shapes

Elastic/flexible: bends but returns to original shape

Sectile: can be carved with knife

 2) Reaction to Acid:
Cool, dilute (1-3%) hydrochloric acid (HCL)
applied from a dropper is a common acid test.

All carbonate minerals will fizz or effervesce.

Undiluted vinegar also useful for the test

 3) Magnetism:
Magnetism is the ability of some minerals to behave like
a magnet, particularly those that contain a large amount
of iron.

Includes some minerals such as magnetite

Magnetism is somewhat of an unreliable property as not

all specimens may demonstrate it.

the lack of magnetism should not generally exclude

typically magnetic minerals.

A compass needle is a good test device for testing

magnetism as is a magnet on a string that might sway
near the specimen.
 magnetite
 4) Specific Gravity (SG):
Specific gravity is the same number as density but without the
units!

Hefting is easy way to judge

Holding equal sized pieces of different mineral in either

hand and feel the weight.

Heavier = higher SG Lighter = Lower SG

Gold and Galena and Sphalerite have unusually high SG

Gold can easily be distinguished from "fool's gold" by specific

gravity alone
 5) Fluorescence:
Some minerals glow in the dark under
a black light (U.V. light)

Due to excitation of electrons

 6) Double Refraction:
Light passing through the mineral is split
into two rays.

Causes an optical "doubling" effect.

Common way to determine Calcite from

halite or gypsum!
 Calcite
Calcite has the optical property of double refraction.
In the photos above, the same sample of calcite is used.
It is rotated over a thin dark line.
Examine how the appearance of the line changes in the
different orientations of calcite.