GL – 204 Fundamentals of Geology

Genesis of Minerals

Dr. Mulugheta Tewelde

University of Zimbabwe
Department of Geology
 Abundant elements of the continental crust
- Common rock-forming minerals are mostly chemical
compounds made up of these elements.
- The following 8 elements
combine to form rock forming
minerals that account for 98% of
earth’s crust.

Oxygen Silicon
Aluminum Iron
Calcium Sodium
Potassium Magnesium

- How do these elements

combine to make minerals?
Types of Bonds:
The major types of bonds are:

- Ionic: a form of electron capture or "swapping" between

atoms of greatly differing valence (e.g., NaCl; halite)

- Covalent: electron sharing between two or more atoms of

similar, or identical, valence (Diamond)

- Metallic: Electron sharing whereby atoms move freely

through a structure (native metals)

- Van der Waal's: Weak polarized attraction among atoms, no

electron transfer (graphite)
Types of Bonds (Contd.):
 Genesis of Minerals
Minerals are ephemeral; they have limited life spans. They
represent atoms that are bonded together to form
crystalline solids whenever and wherever environmental
conditions permit.

Ice is a good example. It forms whenever temperature and

pressure conditions permit hydrogen and oxygen atoms
bond together to form crystals with a hexagonal structure.

When temperature increase or pressure decrease

sufficiently, ice ceases to exist because the atoms
seperate into the partially bonded arrays that characterize
liquid water. Ice, like all other minerals, is ephemeral.
Genesis of Minerals (Contd.)

How do minerals form?

 Genesis of Minerals (Contd.)
- Minerals form through natural environmental processes
that cause atoms to bond together to form solids. These
include the following:

(1) Preciptation from solution

(2) Sublimation from a gas

(3) Crystallization from a melt or other liquid

(4) Solid state growth

(5) Solid-liquid or solid-gas reactions

 Genesis of Minerals (Contd.)
(1) Precipitation from solution. solutions from which
minerals precipitate include:

- surface water in springs, rivers, lakes and oceans

- groundwater in soils and underground aquifers.

- hydrothermal solutions, which are warm, aqueous

solutions that have been heated at depth.
 Genesis of Minerals (Contd.)
(2) Sublimation from a gas. Sublimation occurs where
volcanic gases are vented at Earth‘s surface or where gas
phases separate from solution in the subsurface.

***(3) Crystallization from a melt or other liquid.

- Lava flows at the surface which form volcanic
minerals and rocks.
- Magma bodies in the subsurface, which form
plutonic minerals and rocks.

(4) Solid state growth. In solid state growth, new mineral

cystals grow from the constituents of pre-existing
minerals. This is especially common during the formation
of metamorphic minerals and rocks.
 Genesis of Minerals (Contd.)
(5) Solid-liquid or solid-gas reactions. In such reactions,
atoms are exchanged between the solid minerals and the
liquid or gas phase with which they are in contact,
producing a new mineral. These solid-liquid or solid-gas
reactions are common in mineral-forming processes that
range from weathering through vein formation to
metamorphism.

Note: all these ways depend on the conditions and processes in the
environment in which they form.

Crystallization is the process by which atoms are arranged to form a

material with a crystal structure.
Crystal: any substance whose atoms are arranged in a regularly
repeating pattern.