Rocks & MineralsLi Chung Ming, Pavel ZininRuth Jia & Tayro Acousta

Amazing Minerals

Minerals are …….

the chemicals that make up the rocks

4 important elements for a mineral

Naturally-occurring Inorganic SolidFixed Chemical CompositionCrystalline

Is diamond a mineral?

Yes, diamond is a mineralIt has been found in many different parts of the earth as shown below

Many diamonds were found in the kimberlite pipe, Kimberley, South Africa

Diamond is crystalline with a fixed chemical composition -- carbon (C)

A single crystal with awell-developed external form The unit cell of diamond

structure showing how carbon atoms inside are arranged.

Do you know how many minerals have been found so far ?

There are about 3000 known minerals so far.

Only 200 of them are commonly observed.

20 of them are important rock-forming minerals.

7 Amazing Minerals

1. Diamond

The hardest mineral on earth

“Diamond is forever”

2. Quartz

The most abundant mineral on the earth’s surface -- quartz (rock crystal) SiO2

The mineral we eat daily –table salt NaCl (halite)

Na+1 Cl-1

The mineral halite has a typical ionic bonding between Na+1 and Cl-1

The unit cell is face-center cubic

3. Mica

The mineral that looks like a stack of papers

mica – a sheet silicate

4. Magnetite

The mineral that attracts iron metals

magnetite – an iron oxide (Fe3O4)

5. Pyrite

The yellow mineral that fools many people as gold

The cubic crystalof pyrite

Crystal structure – a face-center cubic

pyrite(FeS2 )

Interesting features of pyrite, FeS2

The black color for pyrite powder

Clear striations on the surface

The simplest way to produce powder from minerals is to scratch a sharp edge of a specimen against a rough & hard ceramic plate. You may try a pyrite specimen on the table to see if it is correct.

6. Ice

The mineral that floats on water

Ice – the solid form of water, H2O

7. Olivine

A green mineral called Hawaii diamond

Olivine – a silicate, (Fe, Mg)2SiO4

Interesting facts about the olivine mineral

It is the major component for the green sand.

It is the first mineral crystallized out from the molten magma.

Puu Mahana, Green Sand Beach, Hawaii

olivine crystals in the basalt

The most abundant mineral in the earth’s upper mantle (below the crust and above 410 km depth)

Thank you for coming

The End

Mahalo