Transcript Guided Notes about Mineral Formation

Guided Notes about
Mineral Formation
Chapter 4, Section 1
Define Mineral:
A
mineral is a naturally occurring,
inorganic solid with a specific
chemical composition and a
crystalline structure
 All
minerals are naturally
occurring, which means that
they are formed by natural
processes.
 All
minerals are inorganic,
which means that they are not
alive, never were alive, and are
not made from a living thing.
 The
rd
3
characteristic of all
minerals is that they are solids.
They have definite shapes and
volumes. No gas or liquid can
be considered minerals.
 Each
type of mineral has a
chemical composition unique to
that mineral. Some minerals, such
as copper, are composed of one
element, but the vast majority are
made from compounds.
 The
atoms in minerals are
arranged in regular geometric
patterns that are repeated
again and again.
Define crystal:

A crystal is a solid in which the atoms
are arranged in repeating patterns
 Minerals
can form from the
cooling of magma, which is the
molten material found beneath
the Earth’s surface.
 As
magma cools, the
compounds no longer move
freely and they may interact
chemically to form minerals.

The type and amounts of elements
present in magma determine which
minerals will form. The rate of cooling
determines the size of the mineral
crystals. If magma cools slowly, it will
form large crystals.
 In
nature, if a solution becomes
super-saturated, or overfilled, with
another substance, then mineral
crystals will precipitate, or drop out
of solution.
 Also,
when liquid evaporates from
a solution, elements remain behind
and arrange into crystals.
 Of
the 3000 minerals found in the
earth’s crust, only 30 are common.
They are referred to as rockforming minerals because they
make up most of the rocks found
in the earth’s crust.
 Minerals
that contain silicon,
oxygen and one or more other
elements are silicates. They make
up 96 percent of the minerals
found in the earth’s crust.
 The
most common minerals are
feldspar and quartz, which are
silicates.
 Oxygen
combines easily with other
elements and forms other mineral
groups, such as carbonates and
oxides.
 Carbonates
are minerals
composed of one or more metallic
elements with CO3.
 Examples of carbonates are
calcite and dolomite. They are the
primary minerals found in rocks
such as limestone and marble.
 Oxides
are compounds of oxygen
and a metal. 2 common iron
oxides are hematite and
magnetite.
Fill in the chart below about
the major minerals
Group
Definition
Example
Silicates
Silicon+oxygen+element
Olivine
Carbonates
Metallic element+ CO3
Calcite
Oxides
Metal + oxygen
Hematite
Sulfides
Sulfur + another element
Pyrite
Halides
Cl or F + Ca, Na, or K
Halite
Native
Elements
One element only, usually a
metallic element
copper