Naturally occurring Inorganic Solid Crystalline structure Specific physical and chemical properties.

WHAT IS A MINERAL?

•Naturally occurring

• Inorganic

•Solid

•Crystalline structure

•Specific physical and chemical properties

CRYSTALLINE(molecular structure)

Amethyst

HOW DO MINERALS AND ROCKS DIFFER?

clear Quartz mineral green Olivine mineral in igneous basalt rock

WHAT ARE MINERALS MADE OF?

Minerals are made up of atoms of elements

HOW MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF MINERALS ARE THERE?

There are over 3000+ different types of minerals on Earth – most minerals

are“silicate” minerals (made up of silicon

& oxygen)WHAT OTHER KINDS OF MINERALS ARE THERE?

Carbonates, Sulfides, and Iron Oxides

HOW DO MINERALS FORM?

2 main ways that new mineral crystals grow:

•Some minerals form when molten rock below a planet’s surface (magma) or above (lava), cools and atoms bond together into mineral crystals

•Other minerals form when water that has atoms of dissolved elements in it, evaporates away -- the atoms get very close to each other and bond together to form solid minerals

HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY MINERALS?

•Luster (metallic or non-metallic)

•Hardness (hard or soft)

•Cleavage / Fracture (way the mineral splits)

•Streak (powder color of mineral)

CLEAVAGE

COLOR IS LEAST RELIABLE IDENTIFICATION TEST

3 crystals of quartz mineral show how the same mineral can have different colors!

ESRT – Page 16

KNOW THIS

PAGE!!!

Graphite

Galena

Magnetite

Pyrite

Hematite

Talc

Sulfur

Selenite gypsum

Muscovite mica

Halite

Biotite mica

Calcite

Dolomite

Fluorite

Pyroxene (augite)

Amphibole (hornblende)

Potassium feldspar

Plagioclase feldspar

Olivine

Quartz

Garnet

FLUORESCENT MINERALS

WHY DO FLUORSECENT MINERALS GLOW IN THE DARK?

Fluorescence is a physical process. For a mineral to fluoresce, ultraviolet (UV) light (electromagnetic radiation) of one wavelength strikes a fluorescent mineral and “activates” it, that causes light to come out of that mineral at another longer wavelength. When those wavelengths reach the “visible spectrum”, we see the different wavelengths as different BRIGHT colors.

Fluorite Mineral

Electromagnetic Spectrum

Calcite

video of time decay of mineral fluorescence