JOHN P RAFFERTY EDITOR MINERALS GEOLOGY LANDFORMS, MINERALS ( | Geology of the world and the Environment

JOHN P RAFFERTY EDITOR MINERALS GEOLOGY LANDFORMS, MINERALS ( Download for Free )

If a rock can be thought of as the foundation upon which all life on Earth stands, minerals are the foundation
upon which rocks are built. Essentially, minerals are the most simple chemical compounds that makeup rocks.
This book is designed to take the reader on a tour of the various mineral groups, the unique characteristics that
set one mineral apart from another, the features different groups of minerals share, and the roles minerals play in the rocks themselves.

Each of the roughly 3,800 known mineral types has a unique chemical and physical structure. Such com-
pounds may be relatively simple, as in a deposit of gold (Ag), or they may be relatively complex combinations
of several elements, as in the phosphate mineral turquoise (CuAl6(PO4)4(OH) ∙ 4H2O). Such combinations
of chemical elements repeat throughout the mineral’s structure, and the mineral’s unique chemistry also drives
its internal physical structure.

All minerals are solids and occur as crystals, and the ordered arrangements of repeating molecules generate
the mineral’s crystal form. Since the chemistry of each mineral is different, no two minerals can produce the
same crystals. Thus, the shape of each mineral is unique, a feature useful for determining its identity. This unique
crystal form can change when temperature and pressure conditions change. Diamond and graphite, for example,
are different forms of mineral carbon; however, diamond develops under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions.



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JOHN P RAFFERTY EDITOR MINERALS GEOLOGY LANDFORMS, MINERALS