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Rock Forming Minerals

Minerals are naturally occurring inorganic solids with defined chemical compositions and crystal structures. They are the building blocks of rocks and form due to specific elements in the Earth's crust, especially oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, calcium, sodium, and potassium. Minerals can be classified based on their chemical compositions into groups such as native elements, silicates, oxides, sulfates, sulfides, carbonates, and halides. Common rock-forming minerals include feldspars, quartz, micas, amphiboles, pyroxenes, olivine, calcite, and dolomite.

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Mary Jane Milante
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145 views24 pages

Rock Forming Minerals

Minerals are naturally occurring inorganic solids with defined chemical compositions and crystal structures. They are the building blocks of rocks and form due to specific elements in the Earth's crust, especially oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, calcium, sodium, and potassium. Minerals can be classified based on their chemical compositions into groups such as native elements, silicates, oxides, sulfates, sulfides, carbonates, and halides. Common rock-forming minerals include feldspars, quartz, micas, amphiboles, pyroxenes, olivine, calcite, and dolomite.

Uploaded by

Mary Jane Milante
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ROCK FORMING

MINERALS
SUGAR OR SALT
CLEAR QUARTZ OR CALCITE
MINERAL

• BUILDING BLOCKS OF ROCKS


• INORGANIC SUBSTANCES THAT ARE NATURALLY
OCCURING IN THE ENVIRONMENT.
• THEY HAVE A SPECIFIC CHEMICAL
COMPOSITION.
• MOLECULES IN AN MINERAL ARE ARRANGED IN A
REPEATED STRUCTURE THAT FORM A SOLID
CRYSTALS.
Common Mineral-Forming Elements in the
Earth’s Crust
ELEMENT SYMBOL PERCENTAGE OF EARTH’S
CRUST BY WEIGHT

OXYGEN O 46.6
SILICON Si 27.7
ALUMINUM Al 8.1
IRON Fe 5.0
CALCIUM Ca 3.6
SODIUM Na 2.8
POTASSIUM K 2.7
MAGNESIUM Mg 2.1
OTHER ELEMENTS 1.4
Categories of Minerals According to Chemical
Composition
Group Name Composition Example minerals
Native Elements Only one element Gold, diamond
Silicates SiO4 (silica) + one or more other Quartz, feldspar
elements
Oxides O2 (oxide) + one or more other Hematite, magnetite
elements
Sulfates SO4 (sulfate) + one or more metallic Gypsum, barite
elements
Sulfides S2(sulfide) + one or more other Pyrite, galena
elements
Carbonates CO3 (carbonate) + one or more Calcite, dolomite
metallic elements

Halides Halogen + one or more elements Halite, chlorite


Physical Properties
• 1. Color and Streak
Streak test – this test is done by rubbing a mineral against a
piece of porcelain.
Streak – is the color given by a mineral in its powder form.
Physical Properties
2. Luster
• The property of mineral to reflect light.
• Metallic or non-metallic
Physical Properties

• 3. Hardness
• The resistance of
a mineral to
scratching.
• The Mohs Scale
of Hardness
describes the
hardness of some
common mineral
in a 1- 10 scale.
Physical Properties
• 4. Density and Specific gravity
• Density-describes the amount of matter present in a certain
amount of space or volume.

• Specific gravity – is the measure of a mineral’s density as


compared to water.
Physical Properties
• 5. Crystal habit and form
• Crystal habit is the growth pattern exhibit by mineral crystals
while crystal form is the external shape of a mineral.
Physical Properties

• 6. Cleavage and fracture


• Cleavage is the
tendency of a mineral
to break along layers
of weak points that
form flat surfaces.
• Fracture refers to the
chipping shape of a
mineral when broken.
Physical Properties
• 7. Diaphaneity
• The degree by which the mineral transmit light.
• It can be:
• OPAQUE – the mineral does not transmit light
• TRANSLUCENT - The mineral allows some amount of light to pass through it in distorted fashion
• TRANSPARENT – The mineral allows transmission of light in an undisturbed manner.
Common Rock-Forming Minerals
• 1. Plagioclase feldspar
• 2. Alkali feldspar
• 3. Quartz
• 4. Mica
• 5. Amphiboles
• 6. Pyroxene
• 7. Olivine
• 8. Calcite
• 9. Dolomite
Common Rock-Forming Minerals

• 1. Plagioclase feldspar
• 2. Alkali feldspar
• 3. Quartz
• 4. Mica
• 5. Amphiboles
• 6. Pyroxene FELDSPAR
• 7. Olivine
• 8. Calcite
• 9. Dolomite
Common Rock-Forming Minerals

• 1. Plagioclase feldspar
• 2. Alkali feldspar
• 3. Quartz
• 4. Mica
• 5. Amphiboles
• 6. Pyroxene
• 7. Olivine
• 8. Calcite
• 9. Dolomite
Common Rock-Forming Minerals

• 1. Plagioclase feldspar
• 2. Alkali feldspar
• 3. Quartz
• 4. Mica
• 5. Amphiboles
• 6. Pyroxene
• 7. Olivine
• 8. Calcite
• 9. Dolomite
Common Rock-Forming Minerals
• 1. Plagioclase feldspar
• 2. Alkali feldspar
• 3. Quartz
• 4. Mica
• 5. Amphiboles
• 6. Pyroxene
• 7. Olivine
• 8. Calcite
• 9. Dolomite
Common Rock-Forming Minerals

• 1. Plagioclase feldspar
• 2. Alkali feldspar
• 3. Quartz
• 4. Mica
• 5. Amphiboles
• 6. Pyroxene
• 7. Olivine
• 8. Calcite
• 9. Dolomite
Common Rock-Forming Minerals

• 1. Plagioclase feldspar
• 2. Alkali feldspar
• 3. Quartz
• 4. Mica
• 5. Amphiboles
• 6. Pyroxene
• 7. Olivine
• 8. Calcite
• 9. Dolomite
Common Rock-Forming Minerals

• 1. Plagioclase feldspar
• 2. Alkali feldspar
• 3. Quartz
• 4. Mica
• 5. Amphiboles
• 6. Pyroxene
• 7. Olivine
• 8. Calcite
• 9. Dolomite
Common Rock-Forming Minerals

• 1. Plagioclase feldspar
• 2. Alkali feldspar
• 3. Quartz
• 4. Mica
• 5. Amphiboles
• 6. Pyroxene
• 7. Olivine
• 8. Calcite
• 9. Dolomite

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