In 2008, crystals up

to 39 feet long were

found in a cave in
Mexico at a depth of
1000 feet. The cave
is extremely hot,
with air
temperatures
reaching 136 °F with
90 to 99 % humidity.
The cave is
relatively
unexplored due to
these conditions.
Without proper Chapter 2: Lesson 1

MINERALS
protection, people
can only endure
about ten minutes of
exposure at a time.
 The Earth’s crust is made up of two things:
•Minerals and Rocks
Coal
Gneiss

Scoria
Rocks are
combinations
of minerals
Minerals are ***You should see lots of
individual crystals different
of all the same stuff minerals in every single rock
 What is a MINERAL?
•A mineral is a naturally occurring, solid
crystalline substance, generally inorganic, with
a specific chemical composition
Where do minerals come from?
 Mineral crystals can form in two main ways:

From stuff From Cooling

dissolved in liquids molten material
(Evaporation & Hot Water)
 Minerals & Crystals from
Magma & Lava
“Extrusive” Cooling:
Lava cools Fast
(Short Time = Small Crystals)

• Minerals form from hot magma as it

cools inside the crust, or as lava cools on
the surface.
• When these liquids cool to a solid, they
form crystals (minerals).
• Size of the crystal depends on time it
takes to freeze into a solid.

“Intrusive” Cooling:
Magma cools slowly
(Long Time = Large Crystals)
Minerals Crystal Size
Minerals Crystal Size
When the hot material cools fast, it has smaller
crystal size. When it cools slowly, it has large
crystals.
Rhyolite
Granite

You can see You can’t see many

individual crystals individual crystals in Rhyolite
in Granite = cooled slowly = cooled very fast
Minerals formed by Evaporation
 Some minerals form when solutions/mixtures 
evaporate:  
When water evaporates, it leaves behind the stuff 
that’s dissolved in it.

 The longer it takes to evaporate, the larger the crystal.
 i.e. salt & water – ocean, 
 Halite, Gypsum, Calcite.
***All the white stuff = salt mineral crystals that formed
when the water of this lake evaporated.
The mineral material was left behind
 These salt crystals formed from salt water
because as the water evaporated, the salt wasn’t
dissolved anymore. So the chemical energy in
salt takes over and crystals form.
Do you notice the characteristic cubic
crystalline shapes?
Large individual crystals (rare)

Mass of small grains: each is a crystal, 
but grown up against each other
 Quartz Amethyst

Halite
 Gypsum
Characteristics of Minerals

1. Inorganic
2. Forms and exists in 
nature
3. Crystalline solid (atoms 
are arranged in a regular 
pattern)
4.  Consistent chemical 
composition Fluorite
Mineral or Non­mineral?
Mineral or Non ­mineral?

Ice?
Salt?
Sugar?

Rock?
Charcoal?
Kinds of Minerals
• Scientists have identified 3,000 minerals

• Of those minerals, there are 20 common rock­forming 
minerals
• All minerals are divided into 2 main groups: Silicate 
and Non­silicate Minerals

Silicates Nonsilicates
Silicate Minerals
• Minerals that contain a combination of silicon and 
oxygen atoms
• Silicate minerals other than quartz have one or more 
additional elements such as Ca, Na, K, Fe, or Mg
• Silicate minerals make up 96% of Earth’s crust

• Quartz and feldspar make up more than 50% of the 
crust

Quartz (SiO2) Feldspar
Silicate Minerals
Classification
MAFIC Silicates – generally contain Iron (Fe) or 
Magnesium (Mg) and are dark in color. (Examples are 
olivine, pyroxene, amphibole and biotite mica)

FELSIC Silicates – contain Potassium (K) or Sodium 
(Na) and Aluminum (Al) and are light in color. 
(Examples are feldspar, quartz, clay mineral, and 
muscovite)
Non­silicate Minerals
• Minerals that do not contain a combination of 
silicon and oxygen atoms
• Non­silicate minerals make up 4% of Earth’s 
crust
• There are 6 major classes of nonsilicate 
minerals
Classification 
of Nonsilicate 
Minerals
Metallic Minerals
• Those that are made up of heavy metallic 
elements.
• Copper, Iron, Gold, Silver, Chromium, Nickel 
and others

Non­Metallic Minerals
• Lack the properties of metallic minerals. 
Examples are calcite, quartz, talc and gypsum
Gem Minerals
• Those that possess unique bright colors
• Commonly used for jewelry
• Examples are jade, sapphire, ruby, opal and 
garnet.
 Mineral Composition
• Minerals are usually 
compounds made of 
the most common 
elements in the crust
 Topaz
Silicates Al2SiO4(F,OH)3

The largest group 
of minerals
Composed of:
Metal + SiO2
Carbonates Calcite
CaCO3
The second largest 
group of minerals
Composed of:
Metal + CO3
Oxides

Composed of:
Metal + O

Magnetite Fe3O4
Sulfates
Composed of:
Metal + SO4

Barite BaSO4
Example:
Halides
Composed of:
Metal + halogen

Halogens include:
Chlorine
Fluorine
Bromine Fluorite
Iodine
CaF2
Sulfides Chalcocite
Cu2S

Composed of:
Metal + Sulfur
Phosphates
Composed of:
Metal + PO4

Apatite
Ca5(PO4)3(OH,F,Cl)
Nitrates

Composed of:
Metal + NO3

Niter
KNO3
Native Elements

Composed of:
A single element

Gold (Au)
How to Identify 
Minerals
Physical Properties
Mineralogists identify minerals based on a 
number of specific physical properties:

Habit
Luster
Cleavage and Fracture
Hardness
Streak
Color
Habit
• Refers to the overall 
shpe or growth or 
pattern of the mineral.

Equant
­3D like that of a 
cube/pshere
Elongate
    ­ prismatic/prism­like 
crystals, thicker as pencil
Platy
  ­ flattened and thin  
crystal
Hexagonal: 
Amethyst

Monoclinic: 
Gypsum

Triclinic: 
Kyanite
Luster
• Light reflected from the mineral’s surface
• Quantity and quality of light reflected from the 
exterior surface of the mineral.
• Can be opaque, transparent, dull or shiny
• Metallic luster is opaque and reflective (Gold & Silver)
• All other minerals have 
• nonmetallic luster: waxy, pearly, glassy, 
dull/earthy, or virtuous/brilliant
Pyrite: Metallic, 
Shiny Luster

Halite :
Non­Metallic Translucent Luster

Sulfur :
Non­Metallic Waxy Luster
Cleavage and Fracture
• Cleavage is  the tendency 
of a mineral to break along 
very smooth, flat and 
shiny surfaces 

• Fracture is when the 
mineral does not split along 
cleavage planes 
• Fracture can be irregular, 
fibrous, or conchoidal
Cleavage and Fracture
• Cleavage occurs in 
one, two, or three 
directions
 Hardness
• A measure of the ability of a 
mineral to resist scratching 
• Hardness does NOT mean 
resistance to cleavage 
planes!!
• Hardness relates to the 
strength of bonds between 
the minerals atoms 
• (Ex: Diamond vs. Graphite)
Moh’s Hardness Scale
• To determine an unknown mineral’s 
hardness, you need to scratch it against 
a mineral of known hardness
 Rubies are cut from 
Color corundum with traces of 
Chromium (Cr)

• Easy to observe

• Unreliable on its own

• Trace amounts of certain 
elements can greatly effect 
color of some minerals (ex: 
sapphires and rubies)
• Weathering can also cause 
changes in color
Sapphires are cut from 
corundum with traces of 
Cobalt (Co)
Different Colors
of Calcite
Different
Colors of
Fluorite
Different Colors
of Quartz
Streak
• Color of mark of or powder 
left by rubbing against a 
streak plate: unglazed tile
• More reliable information 
than color
• Minerals that are harder 
than the streak plate will 
leave no streak
Special Properties of Minerals
Some minerals exhibit 
special properties that can 
also be used for identification 
such as:
Fluorescence
Phosphorescence
Double Refraction
Magnetism
Radioactivity
 These
minerals
glow
in the
dark.
A black
light really
Fizzing! brings it
out!
The particles of
minerals
of this rock act like
magnets
The minerals in
this rock react
with acid
How Do We Identify Minerals?
We use the different physical and chemical properties
of the mineral to identify it from other different minerals
Luster: Describes how light is reflected from a minerals surface.
Streak: Is the color of the minerals powder when dragged across a surface.
Habit: Different minerals make different crystal shapes

Hardness: Hardness is determined by a “scratch test”.

Color: Every mineral has some natural color…ex: Gold, Blue, Clear…

Etc: There are many other types of properties we use but these are the big ones