Heirarchal organization schemes:
Review of atomic architecture.
Elemental make-up of earth's crust:
What determined the chemical make-up of the earth?
Definition of a mineral: solid/crystalline (regular atomic architecture), inorganic, naturally occurring, fixed or limited range of chemical composition.
What are diagnostic properties for hand specimen identification?
Photograph taked from Smithsonian Institute of a model of a halite latic structure showing the regularly repeating character of ion arrangement.
Photograph of unusually large and clear calcite specimen on exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute in Wasahington D.C., showing the rhomb form where the sides (cleavage planes) are at 75 degrees to each other. Also note how the word calcite behind the crystal appears twice. This is because of the ways that light is bent (refracted) and split as it travels through calcite.
Atomic architecture and the relation to hand specimen diagnostic properties:
muscovite K Al2 (OH)2 (Al Si3O10)
biotite K2 (Mg,Fe)2 (OH)2 (Al Si3O10)
Two images from USGS web site http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/rxmin/mineral.html#biotite that show muscovite (left) and muscovite and biotite (right). Note the one good cleavage reflecting the sheet geometry of this mineral.
Rhyme or reason to the various types of silicate minerals? One organizing factor is the number of tetrahedral oxygen that are shared.
Some sites that provide similar information to the above on silicate minerals as defined by how the silicate tetrahedra are linked.
Solid substitution series in minerals (remember that "limited range of chemical composition" in the definition a mineral).
determines the exact composition of an individual mineral?
Information in mineral textures:
Microscope image of a small fluid inclusion in a mineral, with internal minerals and a vapor bubble that grew out of the trapped fluid as it cooled. The contents of the fluid inclusion tell us a lot about the fluids that have moved through and formed minerals. Image from USGS site: http://minerals.cr.usgs.gov/gips/na/fluid.html
Non-silicate mineral groups and their economic importance:
Image to right is of one form of hematite, a common iron oxide. Image source USGS site: http://minerals.cr.usgs.gov/gips/na/fluid.html
Sample of flourite from Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. showing excellent cubic crystal form (but with a different, octahedral, cleavage). Flourite comes in multiple colors and is often zoned, as can be seen in the cross section of the grain on the very left, with a yellow interior. The zoning reflects evolving conditions as the crystal grew. Flourite usually forms from precipitation in hydrothermal fluids circulating in cracks in the earth.
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