MINERAL

SILIKAT

MINERALOGI - 8
INTRODUCTION

 Silicate minerals are rock-forming minerals made up of

silicate groups.
 Silicates make up 92% of the crust.

 Most of the common rocks, the essential and accessory

minerals of all igneous rocks, many sedimentary rocks, and
most metamorphic rock are comprised of silicate minerals.
GENERAL CHEMICAL FORMULA

 XmYn(ZpOq)wr
 X = K+1, Na+1, Ca+2
 Y = Mn+2, Fe+2, Mg+2, Fe+3, Ti+4, Al+3
 Z = Al+3, Si+4
 w = usually OH-1, F-1, Cl-1
 p, q, m, n ,r = used for electroneutrality and p:q defines subclasses
 GENERAL STRUCTURE

 A silicate mineral is generally an ionic compound

whose anions consists predominantly of silicon and
oxygen atoms,
 In most minerals in the Earth’s crust, each silicon
atom is the center of an ideal tetrahedron, whose
corners are four oxygen atoms covalently bound to
it.
 These SiO4 tetrahedral units can share oxygen
atoms and be linked in a variety of ways, which
results in different structures. The topology of these
structures form the basis for silicate classification.

Two views of a closest-packed representation of the

silicon-oxygen tetrahedron.
SILICATE MINERAL SUB-CLASSES

 In mineralogy, silicate minerals are classified into seven major groups according
to the structure of their silicate anion.

Chemical
Major group Structure Example
formula
isolated silicon [SiO4]4−
Orthosilicates olivine
tetrahedra
Sorosilicates double tetrahedra [Si2O7]6− epidote, melilite group

Cyclosilicates rings [SinO3n]2n− tourmaline group

Inosilicates single chain [SinO3n]2n− pyroxene group

Inosilicates double chain [Si4nO11n]6n− amphibole group

Phyllosilicate sheets [Si2nO5n]2n− micas and clays

s
[AlxSiyO(2x+2y)]
Tectosilicates 3D framework x−
quartz, feldspars, zeolites
1. ORTHOSILICATES (ISOLATED SILICATES)

 The mineral that contains individual tetrahedral units are called

orthosilicates or nesosilicates.
 In this group, silicon tetrahedra are not polymerized; share no oxygen
anions with other tetrahedra, and so have an excess negative charge
of 4-.
 This orthosilicates have high densities and high refractive index, thus,
they are used as gemstones.
 The relatively high specific gravity and hardness that are
characteristic of this group arise from the dense packing of the atoms
within the structure.
 Si:O = 1:4 The atomic scale structure of olivine looking along
the a axis. Oxygen is shown in red, silicon in pink,
and magnesium/iron in blue. A projection of the
unit cell is shown by the black rectangle.
COMMON ORTHOSILICATES

Zircon (ZrSiO4) Garnet

Olivine ((Mg,Fe)2SiO4)
(Mg,Fe,Mn,Ca)3(Fe3+,Cr,Al)2Si3O12)
2. SOROSILICATES (DOUBLE TETRAHEDRA)

 Sorosilicates, formerly called pyrosilicate, any member of a group of

compounds with structures that have two silicate tetrahedrons linked
together.
 Unit of 2 silica tetrahedra sharing one common O.

 The other 6 O are free to connect with other cation polyhedral

 More than 70 minerals belong to the sorosilicate group, although most

are rare. Only the members of the epidote group and vesuvianite are
common.
 Si:O = 2:7
COMMON SOROSILICATES

Epidote – Ca2(Fe,Al)Al2O(SiO4)(Si2O7)(OH) Zoisite/Clinozoisite – CaAl3O(SiO4)(Si2O7)(OH)

3. CYCLOSILICATES (RINGS)

 Cyclosilicate, called polysilicate, compound with a structure in

which silicate tetrahedrons are arranged in rings.
 Each tetrahedron shares two of its oxygen atoms with other
tetrahedrons.
 The cyclosilicates have chemical formulas that contain multiples of
SiO3.
 Si:O = 1:3

 There are three closed cyclic configurations with the following

formulas: Si3O9, Si4O12, and Si6O18.
Beryl - Be3Al2Si6O18 Axinite (Ca,Fe,Mn)3Al2BO3Si4O12OH)
4. INOSILICATES – SINGLE CHAIN

 In the single chain inosilicates, each silicon tetrahedron shares

two oxygen anions, one with neighboring tetrahedron, and one
with another, to produce long, strongly bonded chains.
 Each shared oxygen accounts for only 1(-), so that for each
silicon tetrahedron, the excess negative charge is now only 2(-),
which still requires insertion of cations in the crystal structure.
 These cations are bonded to, and serve to link, the chains, but
these bonds are weaker than those within the chains.
 The single chain silicates thus cleave parallel to the chains,
along two planes that meet at approximately 90 degrees.
Pyroxene (XYSi2O6)
5. INOSILICATES – DOUBLE CHAIN

 As with single chain silicates, chains are constructed by sharing

of two oxygen for each silicon tetrahedron.
 The double chains are constructed by having every second silicon
along the chain share a third oxygen with a silicon from the
facing chain.
 The net result is that on average, each silicon shares 2 ½ oxygen,
so the excess negative charge per silicon is reduced to 1 ½.
 Cations serve to balance charge and link the strongly constructed
double chains, whose extra width causes the cleavage planes to
change orientation and meet at approximately 60 and 120
degrees, producing hexagonal cross sections.
Hornblende (Ca2(Mg, Fe, Al)5 (Al, Si)8O22(OH)2)
6. PHYLLOSILICATE
 In this group, each silicon tetrahedron shares three oxygen anions
with neighboring tetrahedra, so that the net negative charge per
silicon is now 1(-).
 This produces a kind of hexagonal honeycomb sheet, in which all
tetrahedra point in the same direction.
 This leads to the characteristic property of this group – one
perfect cleavage, parallel to the sheets.
 The silicate sheet framework is largely responsible for the
following properties of the phyllosilicates: platy or flaky habit,
single pronounced cleavage, low specific gravity, softness, and
possible flexibility and elasticity of cleavage layers.
 The phyllosilicates, or sheet silicates, are an important group of
minerals that includes the micas, chlorite, serpentine, talc, and
the clay minerals.
 Most phyllosilicates contain hydroxyl ion, OH-, with
the OH located at the center of the 6 membered rings.
Thus, the group becomes Si2O5(OH)-3.
 When other cations are bonded to the SiO4 sheets, they
share the apical oxygens and the (OH) ions which bond
to the other cations in octahedral coordination.
Mica (AB2–3(X, Si)4O10(O, F, OH)2) Talc (Mg3Si4O10(OH)2)
7. TECTOSILICATES

 The tectosilicates or framework silicates have a structure wherein

all of the 4 oxygens of SiO4-4 tetrahedra are shared with other
tetrahedra.
 Si:O = 1:2

 Since the Si – O bonds are strong covalent bonds and since the
structure is interlocking, the tectosilicate minerals tend to have a
high hardness.
 Tectosilicates, including quartz, feldspar, and feldspathoid group.
Quartz (SiO2) Feldpar (KAlSi3O8 – NaAlSi3O8 – CaAl2Si2O8)