4.

MINERALS

The term “minerals” as used in

nutrition labels and pharmaceutical
products is not the same as
a mineral in a geological sense.
In geology, the classic definition of
a mineral is the following:
1) naturally occurring
2) inorganic
3) solid at room temperature
4) regular crystal structure
5) defined chemical composition

The International Mineralogical Association in 1985 amended the definition to:

“A mineral is an element or chemical compound that is normally crystalline and
that has been formed as a result of geological processes.” This means that
the calcite in the shell of a clam is not considered a mineral. But once that clam
shell undergoes burial, diagenesis, or other geological processes, then
the calcite is considered a mineral. Typically, substances like coal, pearl, opal,
or obsidian that do not fit the definition of mineral are called mineraloids.

A rock is a substance that contains one or more minerals or mineraloids. As is

discussed in later chapters, there are three types of
rocks composed of minerals: igneous (rocks crystallizing from molten material),
sedimentary (rocks composed of products of mechanical weathering (sand,
gravel, etc.) and chemical weathering (things precipitated from solution),
and metamorphic (rocks produced by alteration of other rocks by heat and
pressure.
Formation of Minerals

Minerals form when atoms bond together in a crystalline arrangement. Three

main ways this occurs in nature are:
1) precipitation directly from an aqueous (water) solution with
a temperature change,
2) crystallization from a magma with a temperature change, and
3) biological precipitation by the action of organisms.

A. Silicate Minerals

Minerals are categorized based on

their composition and structure.
Silicate minerals are built around a
molecular ion called the silicon-oxygen
tetrahedron. A tetrahedron has a
pyramid-like shape with four sides and
four corners. Silicate minerals form the Rotating animation of a tetrahedron
largest group of minerals on Earth, comprising the vast majority of the
Earth’s mantle and crust.

Of the nearly four thousand known minerals on Earth, most are rare. There are
only a few that make up most of the rocks likely to be encountered by surface
dwelling creatures like us. These are generally called the rock-forming minerals.

The silicon-oxygen tetrahedron (SiO4) consists of a single silicon atom at the

center and four oxygen atoms located at the four corners of the tetrahedron.
Each oxygen ion has a -2 charge and the silicon ion has a +4 charge. Since the
silicon ion has a charge of +4 and each of the four oxygen ions has a charge of
–2, the silica tetrahedron has a net charge of –4.

In silicate minerals, these tetrahedra are arranged and linked together in a

variety of ways, from single units to complex frameworks (Figure 2.9). The simplest
silicate structure, that of the mineral olivine, is composed of isolated tetrahedra
bonded to iron and/or magnesium ions.

Figure 2.9 Silicate mineral configurations. The triangles represent silica tetrahedra.

Mafic minerals are also referred to as dark-colored

ferromagnesian minerals. Ferro means iron and magnesian refers to magnesium.
Ferromagnesian silicates tend to be more dense than non-
ferromagnesian silicates. This difference in density ends up being important in
controlling the behavior of the igneous rocks that are built from these minerals:
whether a tectonic plate subducts or not is largely governed by the density of its
rocks, which are in turn controlled by the density of the minerals that comprise
them.
B. Non-Silicate Minerals

The crystal structure of non-silicate minerals (see table) does not contain silica-
oxygen tetrahedra. Many non-silicate minerals are economically important and
provide metallic resources such as copper, lead, and iron. They also include
valuable non-metallic products such as salt, construction materials, and fertilizer.