earth science minerals

8/8/2019 Earth Science Minerals

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Name: Talc

Composition: Mg3Si4O10(OH)2

Color: White, Grey, Green, Blue, or Silver

Streak: White to very Pearly Green

Luster: Wax-like or Pearly, sometimes Smooth

Hardness: 1 (Mineral)

Special: Fluorescent, non-magnetic, non-radioactive. Used in many

industries such as paper making, plastic, paint and coatings, rubber,

food, electric cable, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, ceramics, etc.

Chemical Group: Silicate Mineral

Formation: Metamorphic


2/25

Color: Colorless to white; with impurities may be yellow, tan, blue,

pink, brown, reddish brown or gray

Streak: White

Luster: Vitreous to silky, pearly, or waxy

Hardness: 1.5 2 (Mineral)

Special: Gypsum occurs in nature as flattened and often twinned

crystals and transparent cleavable masses called selenite.

Chemical Group: Sulfate Mineral

Formation: Sedimentary Mineral

Name: Gypsum

Composition: CaSO42H2O


3/25

Name: Calcite

Composition: CaCO3

Color: Colorless or white, also gray, yellow, green

Streak: White

Luster: Vitreous to pearly on cleavage surfaces

Hardness: 3 (Mineral)

Calcite is transparent to opaque and may occasionally show

phosphorescence or fluorescence.

Chemical Group: Carbonate Mineral

Formation: Sedimentary mineral


4/25

Name: Fluorite

Composition: CaF2

Color: Colorless, white, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink,

brown, bluish black; commonly zoned

Streak: White

Luster: Vitreous

Hardness: 4

Fluorite comes in a wide range of colors and has subsequently been

dubbed "the most colorful mineral in the world". The color of the

fluorite is determined by factors including impurities, exposure to

radiation, and the size of the color centers.

Chemical Group: Halide Mineral

Formation: Igneous Mineral


5/25

Name: Apatite

Composition: Ca5(PO4)3(F,Cl,OH)

Color: Transparent to translucent, usually green, less often colorless,

yellow, blue to violet, pink, brown

Streak: White

Luster: Vitreous to sub resinous

Hardness: 5

The primary use of apatite is in the manufacture of fertilizer - it is a

source of phosphorus. It is occasionally used as a gemstone.

Chemical Group: Phosphate Mineral

Formation:Widely distributed in all rock types; igneous, sedimentary

and metamorphic


6/25

Name: Orthoclase

Composition: KAlSi3O8

Color: Colorless, Greenish, Grayish yellow,White, Pink

Streak: White

Luster: Vitreous, pearly on cleavage surfaces

Together with the other potassium feldspars orthoclase is a

common raw material for the manufacture of some glasses, some

ceramics, such as porcelain, and as a constituent of scouring

powder.


Formation: Igneous Rock


7/25

Name: Quartz

Composition:SiO2

Color: Colorless through various colors to black

Streak: White

Luster: Vitreous waxy to dull when massive

Hardness: 7

Quartz belongs to the trigonal crystal system. The ideal crystal shape

is a six-sided prism terminating with six-sided pyramids at each end.

Chemical Group: Silicate mineral



8/25

Name: Topaz

Composition: Al2SiO4(F,OH)2

Color: Clear (if no impurities), blue, brown, orange, gray, yellow, green,

pink and reddish pink.

Streak: White

Luster: Glassy

Pure topaz is colorless and transparent but is usually tinted by impurities;

typical topaz is wine, yellow, pale gray or reddish-orange, blue brown.




9/25

Name: Corundum

Composition: Al2O3

Color: Colorless, gray, brown; pink to pigeon-blood-red, orange, yellow,

green, blue to cornflower blue, violet; may be color zoned, asteriated

mainly grey and brown

Streak: White

Luster: Adamantine to vitreous

A crystalline form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) with traces of iron,

titanium and chromium. It is a rock-forming mineral.

Chemical Group: Oxide Mineral Hematite Group

Formation: Found in both metamorphic rocks and in igneous rocks


10/25

Name: Diamond

Composition: 100% Carbon

Color: Typically yellow, brown or gray to colorless. Less often blue,

green, black, translucent white, pink, violet, orange, purple and red.

Streak: Colorless

Luster: Adamantine

Diamond is renowned as a material with superlative physical qualities,

most of which originate from the strong covalent bonding between its

atoms. In particular, diamond has the highest hardness and thermal

conductivity of any bulk material.

Chemical Group: Graphite

Formation: Metamorphic Rock


11/25

Name: Potassium Feldspar

Composition: KAlSi3O8 - NaAlSi3O8 -CaAl2Si2O8

Color: Pink, White, Gray, Brown

Streak: White

Luster: Vitreous

Hardness : 6

Feldspars crystallize from magma in both intrusive and extrusive

igneous rocks, as veins, and are also present in many types of

metamorphic rock

Chemical Group: Silicate Group

Formation: Sedimentary Rock


12/25

Name: Hornblende

Composition: Ca2(Mg, Fe, Al)5 (Al, Si)8O22(OH)2

Color: Black / Dark Green

Streak: Brown Grey

Luster: Vitreous to Dull

Hardness: 5 6

Hornblende is a common constituent of many igneous and metamorphic

rocks such as granite, syenite, diorite, gabbro, basalt, andesite, gneiss, and

schist. It is the principal mineral of amphibolite's.


Formation: Igneous / Metamorphic


13/25

Name: Garnet

Composition: X3Y2(SiO4)3

Color: Virtually all Colors

Streak: White

Luster: Vitreous to Resinous

Hardness: 6 7.5

Garnet species' light transmission properties can range from the

gemstone-quality transparent specimens to the opaque varieties

used for industrial purposes as abrasives.

Chemical Group: Silicate

Formation: Metamorphic


14/25

Name: Chlorite

Composition: (Mg,Fe)3(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2(Mg,Fe)3(OH)6

Color: Various shades of green; rarely yellow, red, or white.

Streak: Pale Green to Grey

Luster: Vitreous, Pearly, Dull

Hardness: 2 2.5

The chlorites are a group of phyllosilicate minerals. Chlorites can be

described by the following four end members based on their chemistry

via substitution of the following four elements in the silicate lattice; Mg,

Fe, Ni, and Mn.


Formation: Some metamorphic and igneous


15/25

Name: Olivine

Composition: (Mg, Fe)2SiO4

Color: Yellow to Yellow-Green

Streak: White

Luster: Vitreous

Hardness: 6.5 7

It is one of the most common minerals on Earth, and has also been

identified in meteorites, the Moon, Mars, in the dust of comet Wild 2,

and within the core of comet Temple 1.


Formation: Igneous/Metamorphic


16/25

Name: Pyroxene

Composition: MgSiO3

Color: Light Pink / Purple

Streak: White, Light Green or Light Brown

Luster: Glassy or Metallic

Hardness: 5 6.5

Pyroxene minerals are common in in meteorites and the extrusive

igneous rock called basalt. There are many different types of pyroxene

including augite, wollastonite, diopside, enstatite, and hypersthene.


Formation: Both igneous and metamorphic


17/25

Name: Muscovite

Composition: KAl2(AlSi3O10)(F,OH)2

Color: White, Grey, Silvery

Streak: White

Luster: Vitreous

Hardness: 2 2.5

The name of muscovite comes from Muscovy-glass, a name formerly

used for the mineral because of its use in Russia for windows.


Formation: Metamorphic Rock


18/25

Name: Hematite

Composition: Fe2O3

Color: Metallic gray to earthy red tones

Streak: Bright red to dark red

Luster: Metallic

Hardness: 5.5 6.5

Hematite is a mineral, colored black to steel or silver-gray, brown to

reddish brown, or red. It is mined as the main ore of iron.

Chemical Group: Oxide Mineral

Formation: Precipitation


19/25

Name: Magnetite

Composition: Fe3O4

Color: Black, gray with brownish tint in reflected light

Streak: Black

Luster: Metallic

Hardness: 5.5 6.5

Magnetite is the most magnetic of all the naturally occurring minerals

on Earth. Naturally magnetized pieces of magnetite, called lodestone,

will attract small pieces of iron.


Formation: Igneous / Metamorphic


20/25

Name: Pyrite

Composition: FeS2

Color: Pale brass-yellow, tarnishes darker and iridescent

Streak: Greenish-black to brownish-black; smells of sulfur

Luster: Metallic, Glistening

Hardness: 6 6.5

This mineral's metallic luster and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue have

earned it the nickname fool's gold because of its resemblance to gold.

Chemical Group: Sulfide Mineral

Formation: Neither so it is a Mineral


21/25

Name: Copper

Composition: Cu

Color: Yellow- Goldish

Streak: Copper - Red

Luster: Metallic

Hardness: 2.5 3

The main uses of copper are electrical, due to the greatness of copper's

conductivity, which offers the lowest electrical resistance after silver.

Chemical Group:

Formation:


22/25

Name: Galena

Composition: PbS

Color: Lead Gray and Silvery

Streak: Lead Gray

Luster: Metallic

Hardness:2.5 2.75

Galena deposits often contain significant amounts of silver as included

silver sulfide mineral phases or as limited solid solution within the galena

structure. These argentiferous galena's have long been the most

important ore of silver in mining.


Formation: Sedimentary


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24/25

Name: Sphalerite

Composition: (Zn,Fe)S

Color: Brown, Yellow, Red, Green, Black

Streak: Brownish White, Pale Yellow

Luster: Adamantine, Resinous, Greasy

Hardness: 3.5 4

When iron content is high it is an opaque black variety, Marmatite. It is

usually found in association with galena, pyrite, and other sulfides along

with calcite, dolomite, and fluorite.


Formation: Metamorphic/ Igneous/ Sedimentary


25/25

Name: Halite

Composition: NaCl

Color: colorless or white; also blue, purple, red, pink, yellow, orange, or

gray

Streak: White

Luster: Vitreous

Halite occurs in vast beds of sedimentary evaporate minerals that result

from the drying up of enclosed lakes, playas, and seas. Salt beds may be

hundreds of meters thick and underlie broad areas

Chemical Group: Halide Mineral

Formation: Mineral

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