Claire Chadwick; Lauren Maurizio; Robin Humphreys; and Vijay Vulava

Introduction to Minerals

According to the International Mineralogical Association, “a mineral is an element or chemical compound that is normally crystalline and that has been formed as a result of geological processes.”  This is an overarching technical definition of a mineral and has many underlying attributes embedded within that definition.  For example, since all geological processes are natural, a mineral has to occur naturally.

  • Watch this quick video that describes the basic properties of minerals and how these properties are used to identify minerals.

Exercise 1 – Introduction to Minerals

Consult the book chapter at Minerals – An Introduction to Geology (opengeology.org) to help answer the following questions:

  1. List the five minimum attributes that define a mineral.
  2. What is the relationship between a rock and a mineral?
  3. Define the Hardness of a mineral.
  4. Define the Streak of a mineral.
  5. Define the Crystal Habit of a mineral.
  6. Define the Breakage of a mineral.
  7. Define the Luster of a mineral.

 

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Environmental Geology Laboratory Copyright © 2021 by Dr. Vijay M. Vulava and colleagues at the Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, College of Charleston is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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