the origin and environment of formation of

common minerals and rocks

• The four main categories of mineral formation are: (1) igneous, or
magmatic, in which minerals crystallize from a melt, (2) sedimentary,
in which minerals are the result of sedimentation, a process whose
raw materials are particles from other rocks that have undergone
weathering or erosion. (3) metamorphic, in which new minerals form
at the expense of earlier ones owing to the effects of changing-usually
increasing temperature or pressure or both on some existing rock
type, and (4) hydrothermal, in which minerals are chemically
precipitated from hot solutions within Earth
What is Mineral?

• Minerals form under an enormous range of geologic conditions. There

are probably more ways to form minerals than there are types of
minerals themselves. Minerals can form from volcanic gases,
sediment formation, oxidation, crystallization from magma, or
deposition from a saline fluid, to list a few.
How do the rocks formed?
• Igneous rocks are formed from melted rock deep inside the
Earth. Sedimentary rocks are formed from layers of sand, silt,
dead plants, and animal skeletons. Metamorphic rocks formed
from other rocks that are changed by heat and pressure
underground.