Origin of Names for Rocks and Minerals. The Rock and Mineral names can be traced quite often to Greek and to Latin. It is common practice to add an “ite” to a mineral name. The suffix “ite” is derived from the Greek word lithos (from its adjectival form -ites), meaning rock or stone.

Minerals form either deep within the Earth, or at relatively shallow depths, or even at the Earth’s surface. Minerals that form at considerable depths within Earth’s crust do so in a (1) metamorphic environment, (2) magnetic environment, (3) pegmatitic environment, and (4) hydrothermal environment.

How tightly the mineral structure is packed depends on the temperature and pressure. Time will determine the size the crystals reach. If magma cools to rock slowly, the crystals will be larger. If the magma cools slowly, many tiny crystals will form.

Physical and chemical conditions include factors such as temperature, pressure, presence of water, pH, and amount of oxygen available. Time is one of the most important factors because it takes time for atoms to become ordered. If time is limited, the mineral grains will remain very small.

Minerals can be formed from the intense heat and pressure found far beneath the Earth’s crust in the mantle, where molten rock flows as liquid magma. Silicates in the magma can form minerals such as hornblende and other igneous rocks as the magma cools.

The four main categories of mineral formation are: (1) igneous, or magmatic, in which minerals crystallize from a melt, (2) sedimentary, in which minerals are the result of sedimentation, a process whose raw materials are particles from other rocks that have undergone weathering or erosion, (3) metamorphic, in which …

Minerals can be formed in two ways which include the crystallization of a molten rock and the crystallization of materials from solutions. In the crystallization of a molten rock: When the magma cools, it forms a solid state in the form of crystals.

Most minerals can be characterized and classified by their unique physical properties: hardness, luster, color, streak, specific gravity, cleavage, fracture, and tenacity.

During mineral growth and dissolution, material (in the form of atoms, molecules, complexes, or clusters) is transported through water to or from the mineral surface. Even in a solution that is at equilibrium with respect to a given mineral, there is transport to and from the surface.

The chemical and physical shifts that minerals undergo as they are heated and squeezed cause some to sink down toward the core and others to rise up toward the surface. This buoyant pressure and gravitational sinking, in turn, affect the convection of the mantle and the large-scale cycling of the Earth.

Dissolved metals and other elements crystallize out of the hot fluid to form new minerals, such as gold, copper, sulfur, pyrite, and galena.

Magma heats nearby underground water, which reacts with the rocks around it to pick up dissolved particles. As the water flows through open spaces in the rock and cools, it deposits solid minerals. The mineral deposits that form when a mineral fills cracks in rocks are calledveins (Figure below).

The physical properties of minerals are determined by the atomic structure and crystal chemistry of the minerals. The most common physical properties are crystal form, color, hardness, cleavage, and specific gravity. One of the best ways to identify a mineral is by examining its crystal form (external shape).

Of the common silicate minerals, olivine normally crystallizes first, at between 1200° and 1300°C. As the temperature drops, and assuming that some silica remains in the magma, the olivine crystals react (combine) with some of the silica in the magma (see Box 3.1) to form pyroxene.

Minerals have several different ways in which they can form, which relate to the different ways that rocks can form: igneous minerals crystallize from molten rock, metamorphic minerals are recrystallized from other minerals without melting, and sedimentary minerals precipitate from water and, sometimes, from air.

The term luster refers to the appearance of a fresh surface of a mineral in reflected light. The two basic types of luster are metallic and non-metallic.

Macrominerals

The original minerals break down and a new set of minerals is formed that is stable under the new conditions (of pressure and temperature). Fluid between crystals promotes chemical exchange within the otherwise solid state system.

Zircons

Answer: Yes, a mineral can be formed in more than one process. Explanation: Minerals are formed naturally and therefore does not require intervention from an organic entity.

We concluded that the first mineral was diamond—pure carbon condensed from the expanding atmospheres of energetic stars. Approximately a dozen “ur-minerals,” including nitrides, carbides, oxides, and silicates, condensed as micro-crystals at temperatures greater than 1500°C.

Scientists identify oldest crystal on Earth — 4.4 billion years old

• 1/3. A 4.4-billion-year-old zircon crystal is the oldest material ever found on Earth. (
• 2/3. The Jack Hills zircon is the oldest material ever discovered on Earth. (
• 3/3. Looking down on Jack Hills, where the oldest zircon on Earth was discovered. (

Bedrock along the northeast coast of Hudson Bay, Canada, has the oldest rock on Earth. Canadian bedrock more than 4 billion years old may be the oldest known section of the Earth’s early crust.

Scientists may have discovered the oldest Earth rock ever—on the Moon. A lunar sample returned by the Apollo 14 astronauts may contain a bit of Earth from about 4 billion years ago.

Terms in this set (5)

• Water evaporates. Minerals form from evaporation and dissolve in water – evaporates.
• Hot water cools. Hot water dissolves minerals in Earth’s core.
• Molten rock.
• Heat and pressure.
• Organism produce minerals.

“Fool’s Gold” is technically known as pyrite or iron sulfide (FeS2) and is one of the most common sulfide minerals. Sulfide minerals are a group of inorganic compounds containing sulfur and one or more elements. Pyrite is called “Fool’s Gold” because it resembles gold to the untrained eye.

“Fool’s gold” is a common nickname for pyrite. Pyrite received that nickname because it is worth virtually nothing, but has an appearance that “fools” people into believing that it is gold. The value of this specimen to collectors of crystalline gold would be many times the value of its contained gold.

This stone can help dispel fatigue, stress, and anxiety. It can also help with lung and digestive tract problems. Fools Gold can also be used to treat cell and bone diseases. It’s also a good protection stone against the common cold and the flu.