COMMON ROCK-

FORMING MINERALS
EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE
UNLOCKING OF DIFFICULTIES

• ROCK-FORMING MINERALS
ARE ROCKS FORMED FROM THE COMBINATIONS OF
A FEW COMMON MINERALS.

• ACCESSORY MINERALS
ARE MINERALS OCCURRING WITHIN A ROCK IN
SMALL QUANTITIES.
• THE TERM “MINERAL” IS USED IN HEALTH
SCIENCES AS A SUBSTANCE THAT IS BENEFICIAL TO
THE BODY.

* In the mining industry, it is any substance

that has been extracted from a mine. however, for
geologists, a mineral is a naturally occurring
substance that is usually solid, crystalline, stable at
room temperature, and inorganic.
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A MINERAL?
TO DETERMINE AN EARTH MINERAL, IT SHOULD EXHIBIT THE
FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS:

✓ NATURALLY-OCCURRING. IT IS A MINERAL IF IT HAS BEEN

FORMED BY GEOLOGIC PROCESSES WITHOUT ANY HUMAN
INTERVENTION.
✓ INORGANIC. A MINERAL IS INORGANIC IF IT IS FORMED BY
INORGANIC PROCESSES AND DOES NOT CONTAIN ANY
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS. HOWEVER, MINERALS LIKE CALCITE
AND
OTHER SHELL-FORMING MATERIALS ARE FORMED THROUGH
✓ SOLID. A mineral should exhibit stability at room
temperature , which can only be attained if it is solid.

✓ CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURE. Minerals look like

crystals since the arrangement of their atoms is ordered
and repetitive. thus, naturally occurring, inorganic solids,
such as obsidian, cannot be considered a mineral since
they lack a crystalline structure.
*

CAN BE REPRESENTED BY A CHEMICAL FORMULA.

Most minerals are chemical compounds and can be
represented using a fixed or variable chemical formula.
• Some minerals are easily classifiable; others can only
be recognized using a petrographic microscope or
by complex analytical techniques. The following
criteria are used to differentiate minerals in hand
sample. most minerals cannot be identified from one
particular property, and so, it is advisable to use several
of the diagnostic criteria below. a hand lens will help
greatly.
COLOR
Color is one of the most obvious characteristics of a mineral, but
generally not the most useful diagnostic feature. Depending on
impurities, individual mineral types may come in a vast variety of
colors. The red color of ruby is due to the presence of the element
chromium . Sapphires may come in a vast variety of colors; blue
being the most familiar color; but yellow,
orange, green, pink, orange, and brown varieties are also known.
Garnets may also come in a large range of colors, depending on their
composition.
CRYSTAL HABIT
It refers to the characteristic shape of a mineral unit (either an
individual crystal or an aggregate of crystals). crystals with well-
developed faces are referred to as “euhedral”; for example, garnet
crystals are often euhedral.
• ACICULAR - Needle-like, e.g. natrolite , rutile
• BLADED - Blade-like slender and flattened, e.g. kyanite
• BOTRYOIDAL - Grape-like masses, e.g. hematite, malachite
• COLUMNAR - Long, slender prisms, e.g. calcite, gypsum
• CUBIC - Cube-shaped, e.g. pyrite, galena, halite
• DENDRITIC - Tree-like, branching in multiple
directions, e.g. pyrolusite, native copper, native silver.
• FIBROUS - Very slender prisms, e.g. asbestos,
tremolite
• FOLIATED OR LAMELLAR - Layered structure,
parts easily into very thin sheets, e.g. muscovite, biotite
• GRANULAR - Aggregates of crystals, e.g. bornite,
• HEXAGONAL - Six-sided, e.g. quartz, hanksite.
• MASSIVE - No distinct shape, e.g. turquoise, realgar.
• OCTAHEDRAL - Eight-sided, e.g. diamond, magnetite.
• PLATY - Flat, tablet shape, e.g. wulfenite.
• PRISMATIC - Elongate, prism-like e.g. tourmaline, beryl.
• RADIAL OR STELLATE – Radiating outwards from a
central point, star-like, e.g. wavellite, pyrophyllite.
• HARDNESS
IT IS A MEASURE OF HOW RESISTANT A MINERAL IS TO SCRATCHING.
THEIR PHYSICAL PROPERTY IS CONTROLLED BY THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
AND STRUCTURE OF THE MINERAL. HARDNESS IS COMMONLY MEASURED ON
THE MOHS’S SCALE.
• STREAK
THE STREAK OF A MINERAL REFERS TO THE COLOR OF
THE MARK IT LEAVES BEHIND AFTER BEING RUBBED AGAINST A
PIECE OF UNGLAZED PORCELAIN. HEMATITE PROVIDES A GOOD
EXAMPLE OF HOW STREAK WORKS. WHILE THIS MINERAL IS
USUALLY BLACK, SILVER, OR BROWN-RED IN HAND SAMPLE, ITS
STREAK IS ALWAYS A DARK BLOOD-RED. CHALCOPYRITE IS
USUALLY GOLDEN-BROWN IN HAND SAMPLE BUT HAS A GREEN-
BLACK STREAK. STREAK CAN BE USED ONLY FOR MINERALS WITH
A MOHS’S HARDNESS OF 7 OR LESS, AS MINERALS WITH A
HARDNESS GREATER THAN 7 WILL THEMSELVES SCRATCH THE
STREAK PLATE. A STREAK PLATE IS AN UNGLAZED PORCELAIN IS
• CLEAVAGE
MINERALS ARE COMPOSED OF ATOMS, WHICH, FOR
EACH MINERAL, HAVE A CHARACTERISTIC ARRANGEMENT.
WEAKNESSES IN THE CHEMICAL BONDS BETWEEN THESE
ATOMS CAUSE PLANE OF WEAKNESS IN THE CRYSTAL
STRUCTURE. CLEAVAGE IS AN INDICATION OF HOW WELL A
MINERAL BREAKS ALONG THESE PLANES OF WEAKNESS
AND MAYBE A GOOD DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERISTIC.
CLEAVAGE MAY BE DESCRIBED AS “PERFECT”, “GOOD”,
“DISTINCT” OR “POOR”. IN TRANSPARENT MINERALS OR IN
THIN SECTIONS VIEWED THROUGH A MICROSCOPE,
 WHEN A QUARTZ SPECIMEN IS BROKEN WITH A HAMMER, IT
DISPLAYS CONCHOIDAL (SHELL-LIKE) FRACTURE. FRACTURE IS
EXHIBITED IF THE MINERAL DOES NOT HAVE A CLEAVAGE PLANE.
SPECIFIC GRAVITY
ALSO KNOWN AS SG, IS A MEASUREMENT THAT DETERMINES
THE DENSITY OF MINERALS. TWO MINERALS MAY BE THE SAME
SIZE, BUT THEIR WEIGHT MAY BE VERY DIFFERENT.
• ROCK-FORMING MINERALS
THERE ARE ALMOST 5000 KNOWN MINERAL SPECIES, YET
MOST ROCKS ARE “ROCK-FORMING MINERALS”. THE ROCK-
FORMING MINERALS ARE FELDSPARS, QUARTZ, AMPHIBOLES,
MICAS, OLIVINE, GARNET, CALCITE, AND PYROXENES. MOREOVER,
COMMON ACCESSORY MINERALS INCLUDE ZIRCON, MONAZITE,
APATITE, TITANITE, TOURMALINE, PYRITE, AND OTHER OPAQUES
ACCESSORY MINERALS.
1. FELDSPAR IS THE NAME OF A HUGE GROUP OF ROCK-FORMING
SILICATE MINERALS THAT MAKE UP OVER 50% OF EARTH’S CRUST.
THEY ARE FOUND IN IGNEOUS, METAMORPHIC, AND SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD. FELDSPAR MINERALS HAVE
2. QUARTZ QUARTZ OR SILICON DIOXIDE (SIO2) IS A CHEMICAL
COMPOUND CONSISTING OF ONE-PART SILICON AND TWO PARTS
OXYGEN. IT IS THE MOST ABUNDANT AND WIDELY DISTRIBUTED
MINERAL FOUND AT EARTH'S SURFACE - PRESENT AND PLENTIFUL
IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD.
3. AMPHIBOLE IS A CRUCIAL INSTITUTION OF USUALLY DARKISH-
COLORED, INOSILICATE MINERALS, FORMING PRISM OR
NEEDLELIKE CRYSTALS, COMPOSED OF DOUBLE CHAIN SIO4
(SILICON TETROXIDE) AND NORMALLY CONTAINING IONS OF IRON
AND/OR MAGNESIUM IN THEIR SYSTEMS. AMPHIBOLES MAY BE
INEXPERIENCED, BLACK, COLORLESS, WHITE, YELLOW, BLUE, OR
BROWN.
4. MICA
WAS THE 28 KNOWN SPECIES OF THE MICA GROUP, ONLY 6
ARE COMMON ROCK-FORMING MINERALS. MUSCOVITE, THE
COMMON LIGHT-COLORED MICA, AND BIOTITE, WHICH IS
TYPICALLY BLACK OR NEARLY SO, ARE THE MOST ABUNDANT.
PHLOGOPITE, TYPICALLY BROWN, AND PARAGONITE, WHICH IS
MACROSCOPICALLY INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM MUSCOVITE, ALSO
ARE FAIRLY COMMON. LEPIDOLITE, GENERALLY PINKISH TO LILAC
IN COLOR OCCURS IN LITHIUM-BEARING PEGMATITES.
GLAUCONITE, A GREEN SPECIES THAT DOES NOT HAVE THE SAME
GENERAL MACROSCOPIC CHARACTERISTICS AS THE OTHER MICAS,
OCCURS OCCASIONALLY IN MANY MARINE SEDIMENTARY
5. OLIVINE
IS TYPICALLY FOUND IN MAFIC AND ULTRAMAFIC IGNEOUS
ROCKS SUCH AS BASALT, GABBRO, DUNITE , DIABASE, AND
PERIDOTITE.
6.GARNET
IS BEST KNOWN AS A RED GEMSTONE AND BIRTHSTONE OF
JANUARY. IT OCCURS IN MANY COLORS AND HAS MANY
INDUSTRIAL USES. THESE MINERALS ARE FOUND THROUGHOUT
THE WORLD IN METAMORPHIC, IGNEOUS, AND SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS.
7. CALCITE
IS A ROCK-FORMING MINERAL WITH A CHEMICAL FORMULA OF
CACO3. IT IS EXTREMELY COMMON AND FOUND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD IN
SEDIMENTARY, METAMORPHIC, AND IGNEOUS ROCKS. SOME GEOLOGISTS
CONSIDER IT TO BE A "UBIQUITOUS MINERAL" – ONE THAT IS FOUND
EVERYWHERE. CALCITE IS THE PRINCIPAL CONSTITUENT OF LIMESTONE AND
MARBLE. THESE ROCKS ARE EXTREMELY COMMON AND MAKE UP A
SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF EARTH'S CRUST. THEY SERVE AS ONE OF THE
LARGEST CARBON REPOSITORIES ON OUR PLANET.
8. PYROXENE
IS ANY OF A GROUP OF IMPORTANT ROCK-FORMING SILICATE
MINERALS OF VARIABLE COMPOSITION, AMONG WHICH CALCIUM-,
MAGNESIUM-, AND IRON-RICH VARIETIES PREDOMINATE.