Transcript here - SOEST

Amazing Minerals
Li Chung
Ming,
Pavel Zinin
Rocks
&
Minerals
Ruth Jia & Tayro Acousta
Minerals are …….
the chemicals that
make up the rocks
4 important elements for a mineral
Naturally-occurring
Inorganic Solid
Fixed Chemical Composition
Crystalline
Is diamond a mineral?
Yes, diamond is a mineral
It has been found in many different
parts of the earth as shown below
Many diamonds were found in the kimberlite
pipe, Kimberley, South Africa
Diamond is crystalline with a fixed
chemical composition -- carbon (C)
A single crystal with a
well-developed external form
The unit cell of diamond
structure showing how carbon
atoms inside are arranged.
Do you know how many minerals
have been found so far ?
There are about 3000 known
minerals so far.
Only 200 of them are commonly
observed.
20 of them are important rockforming minerals.
7 Amazing Minerals
1. Diamond
The hardest mineral on earth
“Diamond is forever”
2. Quartz
The most abundant mineral on the earth’s
surface -- quartz (rock crystal) SiO2
The mineral we eat daily –table salt
NaCl (halite)
Na+1
The mineral halite has a typical ionic bonding
between Na+1 and Cl-1
The unit cell is face-center cubic
Cl-1
3. Mica
The mineral that looks like a
stack of papers
mica – a sheet silicate
4. Magnetite
The mineral that attracts iron
metals
magnetite – an iron oxide
(Fe3O4)
5. Pyrite
The yellow mineral that fools many people as gold
pyrite
(FeS2 )
The cubic crystal
of pyrite
Crystal structure –
a face-center cubic
Interesting features of pyrite, FeS2
Clear striations on the
surface
The black color for
pyrite powder
The simplest way to produce powder
from minerals is to scratch a sharp edge
of a specimen against a rough & hard
ceramic plate. You may try a pyrite
specimen on the table to see if it is
correct.
6. Ice
The mineral that floats on water
Ice – the solid form of water, H2O
7. Olivine
A green mineral called Hawaii diamond
Olivine – a silicate, (Fe, Mg)2SiO4
Interesting facts about the olivine mineral
olivine crystals
in the basalt
It is the first mineral crystallized out from the molten magma.
Puu Mahana, Green Sand Beach, Hawaii
It is the major component for the green sand.
The most abundant mineral in the earth’s upper mantle
(below the crust and above 410 km depth)
The End
Thank you for coming
Mahalo