How Do Minerals Form?
Describe three mechanisms that generate minerals and rocks. Minerals form through a wide variety of processes and in many different environments. We will examine three ways minerals can form: precipitation … Read More
Category: Mineralogy
Common Minerals
Most minerals you see while walking around an outcrop or a road cut reflect the local geology. The Sierra Nevada in California, which is primarily granitic, has an abundance of … Read More
Mineral properties
The word mineral comes from the Latin minera, or mine. Until the nineteenth century, minerals were simply things that came out of mines—things that had economic value, like gold, various … Read More
What Causes Color in Topaz?
Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al2SiO4(F,OH)2. Topaz crystallizes in the orthorhombic system, and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal and … Read More
The largest gold nugget ever found In Alaska
The largest gold nugget ever found In Alaska It weighs a whopping 294.10 troy ounces (9.14 Kilograms, 20.16 pound), and was found near the town of Ruby, Alaska in 1998. … Read More
Sedimentary Rocks Represent Past Environments
Distinguish among three broad categories of sedimentary environments and provide an example of each. List several sedimentary structures and explain why these features are useful to geologists. Sedimentary rocks are … Read More
Igneous Textures: What Can They Tell Us?
Identify and describe the six major igneous textures. The term texture is used to describe the overall appearance of a rock based on the size, shape, and arrangement of its … Read More
How Magmas Evolve
Describe how magmatic differentiation can generate a body that has mineralogy (chemical composition) that is different from its parent magma. Geologists have observed that, over time, a volcano may extrude … Read More
Gemstones and minerals;
Precious stones have been prized since antiquity. Although most gemstones are varieties of a particular mineral, misinformation abounds regarding gems and their mineral makeup. Please follow and like us:
Mineral Structures and Compositions
Distinguish between compositional and structural variations in minerals and provide one example of each. Many people associate the word crystal with delicate wine goblets or glassy objects with smooth sides … Read More