Mineral
Unit Introduction
What is a Mineral?
b..
ES 7 The student will investigate and understand the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources. Key concepts include
c. resources found in Virginia
Objective
1. Identify the major elements of the Earth’s crust.
2. Identify common minerals and ores and their uses. Include: quartz, calcite, , gypsum, fluorite, feldspar, biotite, muscovite, hematite, galena, halite, , magnetite, sulfur, and graphite.
3. Identify Virginia’s major rock and and their uses.
Minerals
Earth’s crust is composed of about different minerals. They play very important roles in civilization. Throughout history wars have been waged and empires have risen and fallen over the conquest of a select few minerals such as gold and silver considered to be precious.
Mineral Characteristics
Mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic solid with a specific chemical composition and a definite crystalline structure
means they are formed by natural processes
Synthetic diamonds and other materials developed in labs minerals
Inorganic means that they are and alive
Salt is a mineral sugar is not
means it has a definite shape and volume
No liquids or gasescan be minerals!!!
Specific Chemical Composition means that since most minerals are compounds, the elements and their are to that mineral
Some minerals such as silver are
means the atoms are arranged in regular geometric patterns that are repeated over and over.
Mineral Formation
Since minerals must form from there are two primary ways that they form here on Earth
Minerals can form from the which is the molten material found beneath Earth’s surface as magma rises closer to the surface the molten compounds no longer move freely and they begin to interact chemically to form minerals
Small crystals means the magma
Large crystals means the magma cooled more
Minerals also form from solution such as when a liquid evaporates from the solution and the elements remain behind “ ”
Minerals will (drop out) of a solution that becomes supersaturated meaning it can hold no more dissolved solids
Of the 3,000 minerals found in the crust only about of these are common. of these make up about 90% of the Earth’s crust
Mineral Groups
are the most abundant group (96%) containing the two most abundant elements in the crust and
and Feldspar are the most abundant minerals
are minerals composed of one or more metallic elements with the carbonate compound
Carbonates are the primary minerals in rocks such as coquina, and
Mineral Groups
are compounds of and a
Hematite (Fe2O3) and Magnetite (Fe3O4) are common examples 7