EARTHSC 1G03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Silicate Minerals, Calcite
4 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
The crust of the earth is composed of igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks, and metamorphic rocks. All these rock types are aggregates of one or more types of minerals. Minerals are: naturally occurring, solid crystalline substances, inorganic, composed of chemical elements. Minerals have: definite chemical compositions, orderly internal atomic arrangements. Most minerals are made of silicon, oxygen, and a metal. Oxygen and silicon are the two most abundant materials in the earth"s crust. The majority of the crustal rocks belong to the group of silicate minerals. Colour: the least dependable of the properties used for identification. ^different minerals may have the same colour and some minerals may display many different colours: different colours within the same mineral are due to minute amounts of. Quartz takes on many different colours and forms. Streak: is the colour of the powder of a mineral when scratched on a porcelain plate, mineral must be softer than porcelain (6-7)
