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Placer minerals are defined as having a specific gravity above 2.58. [1] The separation of the valuable minerals from the most common non-economic mineral, quartz, depends on the difference in specific gravity / density.The weathering process allows for the accumulation of placer minerals, while less dense material such as quartz are swept away.
Mineral physics is the science of materials that compose the interior of planets, particularly the Earth. It overlaps with petrophysics , which focuses on whole-rock properties. It provides information that allows interpretation of surface measurements of seismic waves , gravity anomalies , geomagnetic fields and electromagnetic fields in terms ...
H 2 O + CO 2 → H 2 CO 3. As the acidic water travels through the calcium carbonate bedrock from the surface to the cave ceiling, it dissolves the bedrock via the reaction: CaCO 3 + H 2 CO 3 → Ca 2+ + 2 HCO 3 −. When the solution reaches a cave, the lower pCO 2 in the cave drives the precipitation of CaCO 3 via the reaction: Ca 2+ + 2 HCO ...
Within 1.5–2 km (4,900–6,600 ft) of the surface, the highly pressured magma explodes upwards and expands to form a conical to cylindrical diatreme, which erupts to the surface. The surface expression is rarely preserved but is usually similar to a maar volcano. Kimberlite dikes and sills can be thin (1–4 meters), while pipes range in ...
Streak plates with pyrite (left) and rhodochrosite (right). The streak of a mineral is the color of the powder produced when it is dragged across an unweathered surface. Unlike the apparent color of a mineral, which for most minerals can vary considerably, the trail of finely ground powder generally has a more consistent characteristic color, and is thus an important diagnostic tool in mineral ...
Corundum group minerals have a 2:3 ratio, and includes minerals such as corundum (Al 2 O 3), and hematite (Fe 2 O 3). Rutile group minerals have a ratio of 1:2; the eponymous species, rutile (TiO 2) is the chief ore of titanium; other examples include cassiterite (SnO 2; ore of tin), and pyrolusite (MnO 2; ore of manganese).
The Mohs Hardness Scale is the main scale to measure mineral hardness. Finger nail is 2.5, copper coin is 3.5, glass is 5.5 and steel is 6.5. Hardness scale is Talc is 1, Gypsum is 2, Calcite is 3, Fluorite is 4, Apatite is 5, Orthoclase Feldspar is 6, Quartz is 7, Topaz is 8, Corundum is 9 and Diamond is 10. Odor; Not always recommended.
In toto, these characteristics are sufficient to identify the mineral, and often to quite tightly estimate its major element composition. The process of identifying minerals under the microscope is fairly subtle, but also mechanistic – it would be possible to develop an identification key that would allow a computer to do it.