GEL 1: Lecture 6: Minerals: Building Blocks of Earth

(Ch. 5)
About 4000 minerals have been identified on Earth.
Some minerals take the form of beautiful gems like sapphires. Sapphire is the gem name for
the mineral corundum, a very hard mineral composed of Al2O3, with minor impurities of
cobalt, iron or titanium that impart the variable colors. (Rubies are the same mineral with
the red colors imparted by traces of chromium.)
- a gem is a cut-and-polished stone that has intrinsic value and possesses the necessary beauty
for use in jewelry. So gems form a particular sub-group of minerals.

Some minerals have value as ores of precious metals - e.g., galena is the primary ore mineral of
lead (Pb); vanadinite is the ore mineral for the element vanadium; cinnabar is the ore mineral
for mercury (Hg); chromite provides chromium; native gold
- an ore mineral is any mineral that has economic value and that can be extracted from the
ground at a reasonable profit.

And some minerals simply form rocks – there are only about 30 common rock-forming minerals

Elements build minerals . . .

Elements (each composed of one specific combination of atoms) build into minerals
(specific combinations of elements), which in turn build into rocks (aggregates of
minerals).

Iron (Fe) and oxygen (O) are the two most abundant elements within the entire Earth, with
lots of silicon (Si) and magnesium (Mg)
Silicon and Oxygen are the two most abundant elements within Earth's crust & mantle
- Si and O combine to make SiO2-based minerals called silicate minerals with smaller
amounts of other elements mixed in such as iron, calcium, magnesium, aluminum, sodium,
or potassium
- most common rocks are silicates, since most mineral are silicates

What is a mineral?

• naturally occurring - not synthetic

• inorganic solid – [organic molecules consist of C bounded to H w/ variable amounts of O,
N and other elements] – also, minerals can’t be liquids or gases
• definable chemical composition - each mineral is unique, chemically
• orderly arrangement of atoms (i.e., crystal structure) - each atom and molecule has a
predictable position

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Crystals . . .

A crystal is a single, coherent sample of a mineral that has smooth, flat faces (crystal
faces).
Crystal form is the outward appearance of a mineral based on its internal arrangement of
atoms
- the regular, geometrical arrangement of atoms is called a crystal lattice

some examples:
- galena (PbS, or lead sulfide), the ore mineral for lead (Pb), is cubic in crystal habit
because the Pb atoms and the S atoms fit together in a regular geometric arrangement
that produces a cube
- halite, common table salt, is a mineral composed of sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl). The
atoms stack in the most energy-efficient arrangement possible, building a cubic form.
The large Cl atoms fit together tightly, but leave spaces big enough for smaller Na
atoms to fill.
- diamonds are composed solely of carbon atoms which are densely packed together to
form a tight lattice and a double pyramid form. The bonds between carbon atoms are
very hard to break, making diamonds the hardest mineral known.
- graphite (pencil 'lead') is also composed solely of carbon (same as diamond), but the
crystal lattice is sheet-like in its atomic arrangement of carbon. Flakes are easily
rubbed off with friction.
- diamond and graphite are polymorphs – minerals that have the same chemical composition
but different crystal structure

Solids in which atoms are not arranged in an orderly pattern is called a glass. Glass forms
when a liquid freezes so rapidly that atoms do not have time to arrange themselves into
a crystalline lattice, but instead form a semi-chaotic pattern. Obsidian is a volcanic
glass that forms in this manner.

How do mineral crystals grow? (In essence, this is how the crust and mantle form)

Crystals may grow from fluids, like water or magma, or they may grow in the solid state,
under conditions of high pressures and temperatures.
- crystals grow outward from a tiny nucleus called a seed. Atoms get pulled onto the
crystal faces by electrical attractions between atoms. As the crystal adds mass atom by
atom, crystal faces grow outward away from the ‘seed.’ This process is called
crystallization.

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1) Crystallization from a Melt
Crystals can grow to form a rock by cooling and crystallization from a molten fluid called a
melt (‘melt’ is just another term for the liquid phase of magma)
- extrusive rocks that crystallize on the surface (e.g., lava from a volcano) and intrusive
rocks that crystallize from a molten magma deep in the crust (e.g., granite) are known as
igneous rocks.
- in a molten magma (the melt), silica (SiO2) combines with iron and magnesium and tiny
amounts of other elements to form minerals by the process of crystallization.
- as magma cools, either a few km beneath the surface in a magma chamber or on the
surface after being erupted from a volcano, crystals grow out of the molten mush.
- 'freezing' of a melt to form an igneous rock is the same as freezing water to make ice,
just that the temperatures are much higher. (For example, water freezes at 32°F or
0°C. Igneous rocks ‘freeze’ at temps between 700-1250°C. - Lava may erupt from a
volcano at 1500°C, and as it cools, minerals crystallize out of the lava.)

Each mineral has its own distinct ‘freezing’ temperature at which it transforms from a
liquid to a solid
- so as a melt cools slowly deep underground, the temperature progressively decreases,
with individual minerals crystallizing as their “freezing” temperature is reached (some
minerals will crystallize at high temps, others remain a liquid till lower temps are
reached (a typical ‘freezing’ temperature might by 800°C)
– until the melt cools completely it consists of a ‘mush’ of solid crystals of certain minerals
floating in a thick liquid that itself eventually crystallizes to form the solid igneous rock
- crystals growing from a melt compete with each other for space, so the resulting
crystals form an interlocking mosaic with some crystal faces, but most without sharply
defined boundaries

Most minerals form and evolve through crystallization from a melt. The minerals may have
an extensive and complicated history through their lifetime. If the igneous rock is
exposed at the surface and eroded, the igneous rock may break down into its
constituent minerals, freeing them to be carried along by water, ice or wind. The
minerals may spend time in a river or a glacier or on a beach or on the seafloor where,
after long periods of time, they eventually may become part of a sedimentary rock. Or
the igneous rock may be subjected to the high pressures and temperatures of a
mountain-building event, perhaps within a subduction zone. The minerals may
metamorphose into different minerals under intense pressures and temperatures. The
main point is this: minerals formed in an igneous environment may be recycled many
times in their life, reincarnating within a sedimentary rock or a metamorphic rock.
(more on this process later in the class)

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2) Precipitation from a Solution
Crystals can grow by precipitation from a solution - atoms of elements dissolved in a
solution may crystallize out of the solution if they become abundant enough to saturate
the solution or if the solution begins to evaporate.
- common table salt (halite) precipitates in this fashion, often forming thick, extensive
sheets as isolated bodies of seawater dry up
- sulfate minerals like gypsum (CaSO4-2H2O) also precipitate from evaporating seawater
- these massive bodies of precipitated salts are commonly called evaporites after their
process of formation

About 6 m.y.a., the Mediterranean Sea dried up when the Straits of Gibraltar closed due
to tectonism, cutting off the supply of water from the open ocean. The hot, arid
climate caused the water to evaporate, leaving behind a broad layer of salt that
precipitated as the sea dried up. Then the strait opened again, allowing the influx of
ocean water and replenishing the supply of salt. The straits closed again, probably in a
series of earthquakes, the sea dried up and more salt precipitated. This pattern of
connection/cut-off repeated itself about 2 dozen times over a period of about 400,000
years, allowing the build-up of 2-km thick deposits of salt. We see these deposits
today in numerous areas around the Mediterranean that have been uplifted by tectonic
forces onto land.
- this tectonic-climatic event is called the Messinian Crisis (after the time period 6 m.y.
ago when it happened) (look this up in your book)
- salt forms broad layers beneath the surface that are commonly mined commercially

Crystals also precipitate from fluids inside geodes. A geode is a hollow, sub-spherical body
whose internal cavity is lined partially or completely with crystals.
- as groundwater solutions rich in elements pass through the cavity (encased in a larger
body of rock) crystals grow from the sides of the roughly spherical cavity inward
toward the empty interior. Later fluids flowing through the cavity supply more elements
to add onto the growing crystal faces.
- some large cavities within rock may be hundreds of meters across and contain very large
crystals – e.g. Naica Cave in Chihuahua, Mexico, contains gypsum crystals up to 15 m long
– the cavity in which they formed is essentially a huge geode . . . .

Cave deposits (like stalagmites and stalactites) also form by precipitation from a solution.
Acidic waters charged with Ca and CO2 (derived from rainwater percolating through soil
and limestone rock) migrate through fractures in a cave ceiling – as these solutions
enter the open cavity of a cave, they lose their CO2 to the air in the cave, triggering the
precipitation of the mineral calcite (CaCO3). Stalactites grown downward from the
ceiling, occasionally dripping excess water to the floor and precipitating calcite in the
form of an upward-growing stalagmite.
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3) Solid-state Diffusion
Crystals can form by solid-state diffusion - given high pressure and high temperature
conditions, atoms can diffuse very slowly through solid rock until they rearrange
themselves into a new mineral. This process occurs during metamorphism.
- metamorphism is the physical and chemical transformation of preexisting solid rocks
under the influence of high pressure and temperature – produces ‘metamorphic minerals’
- under high temps and pressures (such as subduction zones or in the deep cores of
growing mountain ranges), atoms physically migrate through the crystal lattice of
minerals, rearranging themselves into different minerals - all this occurs while the rock
remains a solid
- the original set of minerals in a rock metamorphoses into a different set of minerals
under intense heat and pressure, but maintains the same original chemical composition
(elements just rearranged into different, more densely packed crystal structures)
- no liquid phase involved, only solid phase
- metamorphic rocks are composed, of course, of metamorphic minerals

Origin of diamonds . . .

Carbon is a widespread element on Earth – when concentrated and buried to depths below
about 170 km, the requisite intense pressure and temperature conditions are achieved
to form diamonds.
- subduction transports large amounts of surface carbon (carbonate rocks and organic-rich
sediments) deep into the mantle
- the carbon transforms by solid-state diffusion into the densely packed lattice of a
diamond
- continental rifting permits magma to rise toward the surface, bringing the diamonds
formed at depth to the surface where the gas-charged magma erupts violently as a
volcanic eruption
- near the surface the magma cools to a type of igneous rock called a kimberlite
- these igneous bodies occur in carrot-shaped bodies about 50-200 m across and at least 1
km deep called kimberlite pipes
- we know kimberlite comes from very deep in the mantle because it contains rock
fragments characteristic of the mantle
- diamonds come up as inclusions embedded in the kimberlite (i.e. they did not crystallize
from the cooling magma, but rather were just transported upward as solid crystals
within the molten melt)
- miners must crush the rock to release the diamonds from their kimberlite matrix

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Some kimberlite pipes have been exposed to weathering and erosion over long periods of
time, naturally releasing the diamonds to rivers that transport them downstream where
they accumulate with sand and gravel in river channels, deltas and beaches
- these ‘alluvial’ diamonds are mined by constant sieving of the sand and gravel deposits
- 80% of gem-quality diamonds pass through Antwerp, Belgium, before they are sold to
diamond cutters
- laborers in India cut and polish 9 out of every 10 diamonds
- the pipeline from miners to dealers to polishing factories to jewelers to customers takes
one to two years

Final remarks about minerals and crystals . . .

Minerals often show beautiful crystal forms and colors, like those seen in museums. But
most rocks do not show minerals with much crystal shape, even though the entire rock is
composed of one or more minerals.
Under ideal conditions, crystals grow into ‘free space’ (air or water or magma) by
crystallization within a liquid (typically water or magma) by successively adding on outer
layers onto crystal faces. Given enough elemental materials, space, and time, crystals
will grow potentially very large (these are the ones you see in museums and gift shops -
geodes are a simple example).
Crystals in many rocks are small and often poorly formed because they commonly grow very
quickly and in restricted space. Geologists use a handlens to identify minerals within a
rock.
So the point to remember is that all rocks are composed of minerals, but most common
minerals in rocks are not the beautifully crystalline quality seen in museums.

No, you don’t have to memorize all of the mineral names or their chemical formulas. The few
minerals that I’d like you to know will be listed on the study guide that I provide to you prior
to the midterm.