Engineering Geology
GEOL-01205
Minerals: Physical and Chemical Properties
Minerals
Minerals
A mineral is a naturally occurring chemical compound, usually of
crystalline form and not produced by life processes. A mineral has one
specific chemical composition, whereas a rock can be an aggregate of
different minerals. The study of minerals is called mineralogy.
Minerals
▪Visual Observation
Pick up any rock and look at it carefully. You will
probably see small, differently colored particles like
those in granite. Each particles is a mineral. A Rock
is an aggregate of Minerals
Minerals
A mineral is a naturally occurring, with a chemical composition and a
crystalline structure.
As of March 2018, there are more than 5,500 known mineral species; 5,312
of these have been approved by the International Mineralogical Association.
Some are strong & resistant to deterioration. However, some are soft and
produce weaker rocks.
Mineralogy
Study of minerals, their properties and uses is known as mineralogy.
Minerals
Minerals are distinguished by various chemical and physical properties.
Differences in chemical composition and crystal structure distinguish the
various species, which were determined by the mineral's geological
environment when formed. Changes in the temperature, pressure, or bulk
composition of a rock mass cause changes in its minerals. Within a mineral
species there may be variation in physical properties or minor amounts of
impurities that are recognized by mineralogists or wider society as a
mineral variety, for example amethyst, a purple variety of the mineral
species quartz
Minerals
Minerals
Physical Properties of Minerals
Following are the properties of minerals for their identification and to
distinguish them from one another.
• Structure
• Color
• Luster
• Streak
• Hardness
• Specific Gravity
• Fracture
Physical Properties of Minerals
Structure
The property, which indicates the order in which the atoms of a mineral are
arranged.
FIBROUS – when a
mineral have thread
like structure
Physical Properties of Minerals
Color
It is considered to be an
important property to identify
minerals.
An experienced and skilled
observer can identify a mineral
by observing its color.
Physical Properties of Minerals
Color
Minerals like quartz and calcite have variable color.
Color can’t be sole identification property.
Color change with impurities present. For example Quartz, which is colorless
when pure, may be white, grey, pink or yellow, when certain chemical
impurities or included particles are present.
Physical Properties of Minerals
Streak
It is the color of fine powder of mineral, which is obtained by scratching or
rubbing the mineral on a piece of an angular porcelain plate called “Streak
Plate”. Streak of a mineral is constant in color.
Color of the streak differs
from color of mineral: for
example the color of pyrite
is brass yellow and its streak
is dark green.
Physical Properties of Minerals
Hardness
• Resistance offered to abrasion.
• It is determined by the ease of difficulty in scratching it with an another
mineral of same hardness.
• The hardness of a mineral, as commonly determined on fresh material, is
measured by its ability to resist scratching. If a mineral is scratched by a
knife, it is softer than the knife. If it cannot be scratched by a knife, the two
are equal hardness or the mineral is the harder.
• Talc and Gypsum can be scratched with the nail but Quartz can’t be with
knife.
Physical Properties of Minerals
Physical Properties of Minerals
Specific Gravity
• Defined as the ratio of weight of mineral to that of an equal volume of
water at 4˚C.
• SG depends on the weight and spacing between atoms of minerals.
• Mineral consisting of lighter and widely spaced atoms will have a low
specific gravity.
• SG of all minerals is between 1-20 (most of the lie between 2-7)
• Minerals with a specific gravity < 2 are considered light, 2-4 are average,
and >4.5 are heavy
Physical Properties of Minerals
Fracture
Fracture refers to the non-planar breakage of minerals.
Minerals that break along fractures (as oppose to cleavage planes) do not
exhibit predictable weakness
along specified bonds.
Fractures may be described
as splintery, uneven, or
conchoids.
Description of some Minerals
Quartz
• Composition: Silicon Dioxide(SiO2)
• Structure: Crystalline
• Color: Brown or Yellow
• Streak: White
• Specific Gravity: 2.62
• Fracture: Conchoid
Sr. # Name Str Color Luster Streak S.G. Hard Cleav. Fract.
.
1. TALC Massive White/ Pearly White 2.8 1 Poor Uneven
Green
2. GYPSUM Granular White/ Pearly White 2.3 2 Perfect Even
Yellow
3. CALCITE Massive White Vitreous White 2.71 3 Perfect Uneven
Department of Civil Engineering
4. FLOURITE Crystaline White/ Vitreous White 3.13 4 Perfect Uneven
Yellow
5. APATITE Granular White/ Vitreous White 3.19 5 Poor Conchoid
Yellow
6. ORTHOCLASE Massive White/ Vitreous White 2.56 6 Perfect Uneven
Yellow
7. QUARTZ Crystalline Brown/ Vitreous White 2.62 7 Poor Conchoid
Yellow
8. TOPAZ Crystalline Brown/ Vitreous White 3.55 8 Perfect Uneven
Yellow
9. CORUNDUM Granular Brown/ Vitreous None 4.1 9 None Uneven
Yellow
10. DIAMOND Crystalline Variable - - 3.5 10 Perfect Conchoid
Classification of Minerals
Minerals are classified by their chemical composition and internal crystal
structure. There are 7 Major Mineral Groups:
1. Silicates
2. Native Elements
3. Halides
4. Carbonates
5. Oxides
6. Sulfates
7. Sulfides
Groups of Minerals
Silicates
Silicates are composed of silicon-oxygen tetrahedrons, an arrangement which contains
four oxygen atoms surrounding a silicon atom (SiO4-4).
Silicates comprise the majority of minerals in the Earth’s crust and upper mantle. Over
25% of all minerals are included in this group, with over 40% of those accounting for
the most common and abundant minerals.
Feldspar, Quartz, Biotite, and Amphibole are the most common silicates
Silicon-oxygen tetrahedron (SiO4-4) Quartz
Oxygen atoms
Silicon atom
Groups of Minerals
Native Elements
Native elements are minerals that are composed of a single element.
Some examples are: Gold (Au), Silver (Ag), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe),
Diamonds (C), Graphite (C), and Platinum (Pt)
Gold Silver
Groups of Minerals
Halides
Halides consist of halogen elements, chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), fluorine (F), and
iodine (I) forming strong ionic bonds with alkali and alkali earth elements sodium
(Na), calcium (Ca) and potassium (K).
Some examples include Halite (NaCl) and Flourite (CaF2).
Halite Fluorite
Groups of Minerals
Carbonates
Carbonates are anionic groups of carbon and oxygen. Carbonate minerals
result from bonds between these complexes and alkali earth and some
transitional metals.
Common carbonate minerals include calcite CaCO3 , calcium carbonate,
and dolomite CaMg(CO3)2 , calcium/magnesium carbonate
Dolomite Calcite
Groups of Minerals
Oxides
Oxides are minerals that include one or more metal cations bonded to oxygen
or hydroxyl anions.
Examples of oxide minerals include: Hematite (Fe2O3), Magnetite (Fe3O4),
Corundum (Al2O3), and Ice (H2O) Hematite
Groups of Minerals
Sulphates
Sulfates are minerals that include SO4 anionic groups combined with alkali
earth and metal cations.
Anhydrous (no water) and hydrous (water) are the two major groups of
Sulfates.
Barite (BaSO4) is an example of a anhydrous sulfate and Gypsum (CaSO4 ·
2H2O) is an example of a sulfate.
Barite Gypsum
Groups of Minerals
Sulfides
Sulfides are minerals composed of one or more metal cations combined with
sulfur. Many sulfides are economically important ores.
Pyrite (FeS2) or “fool’s gold”, Galena (PbS), Cinnabar (HgS) an Molybdenite
(MoS2) are a few commonly occurring sulfide minerals
Pyrite “Fool’s Gold” Cinnabar